We Seem To Be Changing
by NatalinaFanForever
Summary: Alex is finally in 8th grade! But everything starts going downhill when Juanita, his best friend since forever gets boyfriend and starts...changing. The changes have a huge affect on Alex, and he's really struggling with it. Will Alex be able to fix things? Or will he end his 8th grade year with bad luck?
1. It All Starts

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND! **

**Hey guys! **

**Okay...well um, this story was completely unannounced but I've been working on it for awhile, and today I decided I really wanted to show this to you guys. This story is also going to help explain why I wasn't writing for awhile. Do you guys remember when I told you that I was going through a hard time and didn't feel like writing? Well...this is that story. This is what happened, I just put it in NBB terms and well...here it is! I put it in Alex's POV because I've never written a story about it or for him and he deserves some attention lol. Not all of these events in this story actually happened to me, only a majority. I added some of the parts in to make it more interesting and to make it uh...flow easier. If that makes sense... Anyway, I'm not writing this for you to feel bad for me or anything, so don't think that. I'm writing this because, I personally think it's a good quality story and I think YOU guys deserve something better from me than barely any updates. So here this is "We Seem To Be Changing". I hope you all enjoy it.(: **

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"Alex, hurry up! Rosalina will be here any minute!" Nat called.

I ran into the front hallway. "I'm here, I'm here, calm down." I bent down to tie my shoe. "Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"

"I want to be on time for Rosalina." Just as he said this, his phone vibrated. "C'mon, let's go; she's here." Without waiting for me to respond, he opened the apartment door and sprinted down the hallway.

"Hey!" I called, standing up and running after him, quickly shutting the door behind me. "Slow down!" I caught up with him by the elevator.

"Sorry," He said, repeatedly pressing the elevator button.

"Dude," I said, pushing his hand away. "Chill out."

The elevator came, and we both walked inside.

"So, how are you and Juanita?" Nat asked, giving me a weird grin.

I shrugged. What was I supposed to say? Juanita is my best friend, but she got a boyfriend, and she hasn't really been the same since. She rarely talks to me anymore and we don't skate together like we used to. But I hadn't told anyone about it because I was trying to ignore it. "Okay, I guess."

He frowned, obviously not expecting that answer. "Why doesn't she come around the apartment anymore?"

"Because she's too busy with her boyfriend," I mumbled bitterly.

"What'd you say?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

The elevator doors opened and we both rushed through the lobby and out to where Rosalina's car was waiting. Nat got into the passenger seat and I got into the back seat.

"Hey guys," Rosalina said, looking at Nat and glancing at me in the rearview mirror.

"Hey Rosie," Nat greeted her, smiling.

Nat and Rosalina had been dating for a while now, and I was happy for them, but their 'lovey-dovey couple-ness' kind of grossed me out. But I was always able to get a laugh when Nat tried to impress her and he just ended up embarrassing himself.

"No 'hi', Alex?" Rosalina asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"Hi Rosalina," I said, smiling weakly at her.

She smiled. "Well it doesn't count now," She joked. "Is something wrong?"

"No…just tired." To get both of them off my back I quickly added, "You know…Mondays."

For the rest of the ride, I stayed quiet, half listening to Nat and Rosalina talk. Once we got to the school, they walked into Amigos High School while I ran into Amigos Middle School. I was digging in my locker, when I noticed Juanita walking down the hallway. Now was my chance. "Hey," I said, running up next to her.

"Oh hey, Alex," She said, giving me her usual smile.

It was then that I realized I had nothing to say to her. We hadn't talked for a while and I don't know what to say to her anymore. "Have you seen that new Tony Hawk video?" I asked.

Juanita opened her mouth to respond, when a boy slightly taller than I was, came and grabbed her hand. She smiled wider at him. "Hey."

And we went through the usual routine of them standing and talking, while I stand there, listen to the conversation, which I know I'm not included in. We stood like that until the bell rang for homeroom and I followed Juanita and her boyfriend to class, probably looking like a lost puppy.

**~NBB~**

When the lunch bell rang, I was walking to the cafeteria, glancing around for Juanita. I finally spotted her walking ahead of me. "Hey!" I said, catching up with her.

"Hey Alex," She said.

"So…about that Tony Hawk video…"

Juanita laughed. "Yeah, I saw it. It's so awesome!"

"I know! Did you see how well he could do those tricks? I couldn't do that if he taught them to me!"

We talked about the video all the way into the cafeteria and to our usual table. Right as we were sitting down, Juanita's boyfriend walked up.

"Hey J," He said, smiling at her.

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey Matt," She said, smiling up at him. She looked at me, her smile slowly disappearing. "Alex…do you mind if Matt sits with us today?"

"Sure, what do I care," I mumbled, watching him sit down next to Juanita across the table. I sat picking at my lunch listening to the two of them talk. After a while I got tired of it, so I pushed away from the table and stood up.

"Where're you going, Alex?" Juanita asked, looking up at me.

"I'm not hungry anymore," I said, glaring at Matt and storming away. I was surprised she even noticed me. She's always too wrapped up in her jerk of a boyfriend to care about me. I guess I can't blame her, but how does she even know she "loves" him? She doesn't know what love is, and neither does he.

The rest of the day passed incredibly slowly. I gave up on talking to Juanita between classes because Matt always showed up and interrupted us. After school was over, I trudged out of the school to meet Nat where he was waiting.

"Hey little bro," He said, as we began walking to Rosalina's car. "How was school?"

I shrugged.

"Bad day?"

I shrugged again.

"Are you gonna tell me about it?" He asked, looking at me curiously.

I shook my head.

"C'mon Alex, you know you can tell me anything."

"Yeah, I know," I mumbled.

"So what's up?"

"It's nothing. It's not important."

Nat stopped walking and grabbed my shoulder. "Of course it's important, Alex. If you're upset about it, I wanna know. Maybe I can help."

"You can't help, so just leave it," I snapped, walking away from him. I got into the car and slammed the door shut a little harsher than I meant to.

Rosalina turned around in her seat. "Is everything okay, Alex?"

"I'm fine."

Nat got into the car and she looked at him. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Nat said, putting his hands up. "He's just like that."

"I had a bad day, I told you!" I snapped again.

Nat turned around to face me too. "Then tell me what's bothering you, Alex. There's obviously something that made you mad and I want to know who or what it is."

I didn't respond.

Nat sighed and looked at Rosalina.

She didn't take her eyes off of me. "Alex, just know that whenever you're ready to talk about whatever it is that's bothering you, you can talk to Nat or me, okay?"

I nodded.

They both turned to sit correctly in their seats. "See, was that so hard?" Rosalina asked, glancing at Nat.

"You've always been better at those types of things anyway."

Their conversation continued on while I tuned them out while I stared out the window. I was losing my best friend. What am I supposed to do?

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**A/N-I know, I know. Pretty different than what I usually write, but I think I've got this down. What do you guys think? **

**Leave a review please! (: **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	2. Nat Steps In

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND! **

**Hey guys! **

**Well, here's the second chapter. Everyone seems to really like this story so I'm definitely going to continue. **

**I hope you guys like this chapter too! (: **

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"Alex, dinner's ready!"

I walked into the kitchen to see Nat setting the table and Rosalina pouring mac and cheese into three different bowls. Rosalina comes over for dinner from time to time, especially when my dad is out of town. I used to think it was weird, but now it's kind of weird when she's _not _here. I took one from the counter and sat down at the table. Nat sat down next to me and Rosalina sat across from him. It was kind of an awkward silence. I stabbed my spoon into the mac and cheese.

"Dude, calm down; your mac and cheese didn't do anything to you," Nat said.

I shoved a spoonful into my mouth.

"Did you do your homework?" Rosalina asked. Always the educational one.

I nodded.

"Even the Math?"

I nodded again.

"Good for you," She said, smiling at me. "See, I told you, you'd get it."

"Anything interesting happen today at school?" Nat asked.

"No," I said as I continued eating. "Not really."

"Did you talk to Juanita today?"

I dropped my spoon on the table and pushed away. "I'm not hungry anymore." I walked away from the table.

"Alex, wait," Nat said. "What happened between you and Juanita that's got you so upset?"

"Nothing happened!" I shouted at him.

He didn't back down so quickly. "Obviously something happened because every time I mention her, you either go quiet or you get really angry, now what happened?"

"It doesn't matter! No one can do anything to fix it so it really isn't worth talking about." I stormed out of the kitchen and into Nat's and my bedroom. I threw myself onto my bed and buried my face into the pillow. This was the worst feeling ever. I hated this. I was losing my best friend. And I meant what I said, it isn't worth talking about. Nat can't fix it; no one can fix it, because Juanita doesn't know there's anything wrong.

About an hour after I stormed out of the kitchen, someone knocked on the door.

I didn't even move because I knew it was Nat and that he'd come in whether I wanted him to or not.

The door opened and someone sat on the bed. "Alex," He said. "C'mon talk to me. You always talk to me about my problems. Now I want to return the favor."

I rolled onto my back. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does matter. It takes a lot for something to bother you this much, Alex. Trust me, I know. And so what if I can't fix it? Maybe I can still help."

I sighed. "Juanita got a boyfriend…and she spends _a lot _of time with him."

"Are you…are you jealous of him?"

I cringed. "Me? Jealous of _him_? No way! God no, I could never be jealous of him!"

"Then what's the problem?"

I sat up. "She spends _all _of her time with him. I never see her anymore. And since they started dating she's been acting…different."

"Why don't you just tell her that?"

"I can't tell her that I hate her boyfriend! She'll hate me!"

"No, don't tell her that. Just tell her…you feel a little left out since she started dating him."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"She'd probably just lecture me on how since she has a boyfriend she needs to spend time with him, and whether I like it or not she's happy and he makes her happy and blah, blah, blah…"

Nat shook his head. "That doesn't sound like Juanita."

"Exactly, I told you, she's changed."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, bro. But maybe you should just talk to her."

I shrugged. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"Well, no matter what you know you've always got me, and the guys, and Rosalina."

"Yeah, too bad I'm stuck with you guys…" I joked.

"Hey! You better watch it or you'll be kicked out of the band. Then you won't have to worry about any of us," He joked, pushing me.

"That's not really a punishment," I said shrugging.

"Haha, very funny. So did you really finish your homework?"

"Yeah, I did."

"You wanna come play video games?" Nat asked, standing up from my bed.

"Maybe later," I said, shrugging again.

"Okay." He messed up my hair and walked towards the door.

"Hey Nat?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for…you know…talking to me."

"It's my job. I'm your older brother."

**~NBB~**

The next morning I was in a slightly better mood since having told Nat what was going on. After breakfast, he grabbed his backpack. "Ready to go?"

"No," I answered seriously.

"I know it's tough, Alex. But I'm sure it'll turn out okay. There's only a few more months left until school is out anyway."

"You should've just said a year," I mumbled, pulling my backpack over my shoulder and following him out of the apartment.

We walked down to where Rosalina's car was waiting, once again and this time when we got in she turned around and looked at me. "Everything okay, Alex?"

"Everything's fine," Nat assured her.

"Yeah, everything's…okay," I said.

She turned to sit correctly and gave Nat a look.

"I'll explain later," He whispered even though I could still hear it.

Our drive to school was the same as usual, and when I walked into the middle school, I didn't even try to meet up with Juanita. I knew I would see her at lunch. Whether or not I would talk to her was a different story. But I knew I would see her. All morning during my classes, all I could think about was the Juanita problem. Even during subjects that I kind of actually liked, I couldn't focus. My thoughts were centered on two things. How I was losing Juanita, and how much I hated her boyfriend for it. I hated Matt. I can't put into words how much I hate him. He's so annoying and cocky. Juanita usually hates boys or people in general who are like that. So I don't know why she's dating _him_. You know how you get annoyed by a person by everything they do, even if it has nothing to do with you? That's how I feel about Matt. I remember this wonderful time when Juanita actually despised Matt. She always talked about how annoying he was, and we agreed. But then for some reason they started dating, and Juanita had assured me it was only a pity thing and it would only be for a little while. But as time went on she "fell for him" because of how "sweet he actually was." It's disgusting. I cringe just _thinking _about it.

Before I knew it, it was lunch time. Otherwise known as the time where I watch Juanita and Matt be all cutesy with each other and I try to keep my half eaten food down. After grabbing my lunch from my locker, I trudged to the cafeteria and walked over to where Juanita and Matt were already sitting. I made a huge deal about pulling out my chair and sitting down, but they barely even glanced at me.

It was only a few minutes into the lunch when, to my surprise, Matt got up and walked to another table. Could my situation be getting better already?

I watched him walk away with wide eyes, and then looked at Juanita. "Where did Matt go?"

"He went to sit with his friends," She said, as if it were no big deal.

After that, I didn't question it anymore. I took my chance at finally being able to talk to Juanita how I usually did. And let me tell you, it was almost like heaven. It felt like forever had passed since I'd talked to Juanita normally. I didn't mention this to her though, because I knew I'd get the lecture like I'd mentioned to Nat. My almost-heaven was cut short when the lunch bell rang signaling we had to go back to classes. We both stood up from the table and I was about to continue our conversation, when Matt came up beside Juanita and started his own conversation with her. As if I was never even there.

**~NBB~**

"Alex? Earth to Alex!"

"What?"

"You've been staring off into space for like twenty minutes. Are you okay?" Nat asked, looking at me worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine I was just thinking about the Juanita problem."

"Did anything else happen today?"

"She finally talked to me at lunch."

"Well, that's something."

"Yeah except the minute lunch ended her boyfriend came up and she ignored me again."

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but maybe this means you should find another friend. I'm sure you've got other friends. The middle school is huge."

"But I don't want another friend. I want my best friend back."

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**A/N-Sooo what do you think? **

**Leave a review! (: **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	3. It's Not Any Easier

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND! **

**Hey guys! **

**First of all, shoutout to Britishgurl13 for figuring out the story and getting it basically spot on. Haha, it's cool to get that kind of feedback that way. (She'd probably be the only one to understand that) but anywayyyy... **

**This story is going to be update more frequently because I've been working on this story for a while so like right now I'm posting chapter 3 but I just finished writing chapter 6, I think. BUT-I might be slowing down on updating because I won't be able to get on the computer for the next few days...**

**But I'm still glad you guys like this story! Really, I am. **

**Like I said though, some of this stuff didn't actually happen to me, I added some stuff to make it more interesting and to make it more...NBB-ish. Lol. **

**Enjoy! **

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It's been about a week since I told Nat what was going on at school. Things have been…okay, I guess. Juanita only talks to me at lunch, now that Matt sits with his friends. She only talks to me during lunch though. So today, when I walked into the cafeteria, I saw something that made my stomach do a backflip. And it's not the good kind.

Juanita wasn't sitting where we usually sat. She was sitting and _laughing _with Matt and his friends at another table.

I continued walking to our usual table, trying to shake it off. I hope no one saw that. As I sat down to the empty table, it finally hit me. I'd officially lost my best friend. Now not only did I not talk to her in the hallways, I wouldn't talk to her at lunch either. What happened? What made her move? Why did she move? I tried to shake the thoughts as I pulled out my lunch. But all I wanted to do was run home. All I wanted was run into my room and lock myself in there until I realized this was just a bad, bad dream. But I couldn't. So I ate my lunch, trying to act as if nothing was wrong so no one would think of me eating alone as anything weird. And when lunch was over I glared in the direction of Matt and Juanita. The glare wasn't so much for Juanita, but mostly for Matt. I knew he had something to do with this. He must've. Who else does Juanita even talk to?

For the rest of the day, all I wanted was to go home. I kept thinking over and over what if I had done something, what if I had said something. Did Matt say something to Juanita? Did he purposely pull her away from me? Did he think I was a threat to their relationship or something? At the end of the day I was more than happy to run out of the middle school and to Rosalina's car to go home but instead I ran straight into Nat.

"Whoa, slow down there, Alex," He said, holding by my shoulders. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I want to go home," I said, suddenly feeling tears in my eyes. Why was I crying? I don't cry ever.

"What happened? What's wrong?" He asked, giving me that same worried look he did last night. It wasn't one I saw too often either.

"Nat, I just want to go home," I said, trying to hold back the surprise tears. I didn't want _anyone _from school to see me cry. Ever.

"Okay, okay, let's go home." We walked to the car in silence but I could see out of the corner of my eye he kept giving me worried glances, but I pretended not to notice.

"Hey Alex, how was school?" Rosalina asked, smiling as we got into the car. But her smile slowly disappeared when she saw my reflection in the rearview mirror. "Alex, what's wrong?"

I leaned my head against the window and didn't answer. I'm afraid if I tried to talk I would start crying. I didn't want Rosalina to see me cry either.

She looked at Nat. "What happened?"

Nat shrugged.

"Do you still want me to come over for dinner?" She asked.

He whispered something to her and she nodded and started driving.

The ride home was in complete silence except for the outside noise. Not even Nat or Rosalina talked. When we got to the apartment, I quickly got out of the car, ran up to the apartment, let myself in with the spare key, ran to my bedroom, slammed the door, jumped face first onto my bed and buried myself under the covers. This was not an improvement. What happened? I was actually enjoying talking to Juanita during lunch. Keep in mind this had only lasted for a week. What had I said? What had I done? I kept trying to think of something I did, but I couldn't come up with anything. So why did Juanita move? Why didn't she sit with me?

Suddenly I could hear the apartment door open and Nat's voice through the door. "Alex! Alex are you in here? Alex!" I heard his footsteps walk up to the door and I could hear the door open. He sat down on the bed. "Alex, c'mon what happened?"

I didn't move.

"Alex, c'mon." He pulled down the cover so he could see my face, but since I was lying on my stomach, he pushed me so I'd lie on my side. "What happened?"

"Juanita moved her seat. She doesn't sit with me at lunch anymore."

"That's all that happened?"

"What do you mean 'that's all?'" I shouted, sitting up. "Do you know how it feels to sit _alone _at lunch with no one to talk to? Do you know how it feels to have no one to talk to at all, all day? No, I don't think you do because you have all the guys with you!" I threw myself back down onto the bed and pulled the covers over my head.

"Alex, I didn't mean it like that," He said, pulling the covers back down. "I just didn't think something like that would upset you so much."

"Yeah, well it did," I said angrily.

"I can see that."

"I don't even know what I did. She just moved her seat."

"Did you ever think maybe you're over-thinking this one a little bit?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe she just wanted to sit with her boyfriend and his friends for a day. Maybe tomorrow she'll be sitting back with you again."

"I don't know…"

"C'mon Alex, quit being so negative. You know that's probably what's going to happen. In fact, I bet you ten bucks that Juanita will be sitting with you at lunch tomorrow."

I sat up. "You're on."

Nat laughed and said, "Well hey, to make you feel better we ordered pizza from your favorite place."

"Really?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yep. It'll be here soon so you should probably get started on your homework."

"Okay…thanks again Nat."

"Anytime little bro."

**~NBB~**

So the next morning, I felt a lot better because I started thinking. Nat was probably right. Juanita would probably be sitting there at our usual table at lunch. I had that feeling the whole morning until I caught up with Juanita before lunch. "Hey Juanita."

She suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Oh…uh, hi Alex."

Maybe I should just ask why she wasn't at the table yesterday. "Juanita was there a reason you–"

"Sorry Alex, I gotta go." She walked away from me and over to where Matt was waiting.

I walked into the cafeteria, acting as if everything was normal. But as I watched Juanita and Matt walk to their table, I thought only of one thing. Nat owes me ten bucks.

…

"So Alex, how'd it go today?" Nat asked, as we walked into the apartment later that day.

I decided to stop saying anything right after school because I didn't want Rosalina to worry about me. "You owe me ten bucks," I said, dropping my backpack and walking into the kitchen.

"What do you mean?"

I pulled the refrigerator open. "She didn't sit with me today. You owe me ten bucks."

"She didn't? Well what happened?"

I shrugged as I pulled out some left over pizza. "I tried talking to her too."

"And?"

"She walked away."

"You're acting weird," He said suddenly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, hoping up on the counter with my pizza.

"Well usually you're upset but you seem…fine with it."

"I've decided there's no point in making a big deal about it because there's nothing I can do."

"So you're just giving up?"

I shrugged again. "I guess I'll try to talk to her. I don't know."

"Alex Wolff, I've never seen you act like this."

"Well if she doesn't care, why should I?" I snapped finally.

"You know you care, Alex. She's your best friend."

"She _was _my best friend."

"If you want her back you can't give up, Alex. And you know it."

I finished the pizza and hopped off the counter. "It's not as easy as it sounds."

"It's not any easier if you give up," Nat said.

"Why not?"

"If you give up, you'll have lost. How is losing any easier?"

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**A/N-That's some deep stuff Nat's saying there. **

**What do you guys think? **

**Leave a review!(: **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	4. Getting Sick of This Literally

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND! **

**Hey guys! **

**Well, this will probably be my last update until I get back from my vacation. **

**You know how I said this is basically the story of what happened to me? Well, like I've also probably said, some of it is fake. I add some stuff in to make it more interesting. So not everything you read actually happen to me. The main plot and some of the events actually happened to me. Some of them, like the main one in this chapter, didn't happen. And other events, are just exaggerated a lot or a little bit. Lol. I hope you like it either way! (: **

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At school the next day, all I could hear in my head was Nat's words over and over: "If you give up, you'll have lost. How is losing any easier?" But as I walked through the halls that morning, I noticed something. Something weird. Everybody was…glaring at me. And those who weren't glaring were whispering. Or staring. What was going on? Had I done something? I walked up to my locker and a bunch of kids cleared out of my way as if I was something toxic and just one touch could kill. And as I was pulling books out of my locker, I heard some of their whispering.

"Did you hear what happened?"

"I can't believe he did that."

"He's such a backstabber."

"He's so fake."

Was I the 'he' they were talking about? I turned and continued walking down the hallway to my first morning class. More kids whispered, stared, or glared. I walked into my homeroom, hoping the weird looks would let up. They didn't. Instead of walking straight to my seat, I walked over to Juanita. "Hey." It felt like the whole room was watching.

Juanita only stared at me with a frown on her face.

I hated that look. Especially coming from Juanita. What had I done? I hadn't even talked to her enough to say or do something wrong. Before I could say anything else, the bell rang, signaling homeroom had begun. I walked to my seat and slid down, wishing I could just disappear. Now I _really _wanted to go home.

**~NBB~**

The whole day, I was glared at, stared at or whispered about. Why was I 'a fake'? Why was I 'a backstabber'? What had I done? When I was walking to lunch, I accidentally bumped into Matt, and when I saw it was him, for the first time, I wanted to talk to him. "Matt, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"I guess so," He said, shrugging.

"Well…are we…okay? Do you like me as a friend?" I suddenly had this urge to ask him. Maybe if he was on my side, he could help me clear up whatever was going on with Juanita and everybody else.

"I don't know. I don't like it when people talk about my friends behind their backs."

I gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not stupid, Alex. I heard what you did. I know you've been talking about Juanita behind her back."

What?! So that's what's going on? "What? Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter where I heard it. It matters that you did it."

"I didn't do it!" I said. "I would never talk about Juanita."

"That's not what I heard Alex." With that, he pushed past me into the lunch line.

I stood there with this terrible feeling in my stomach. I felt frustrated, and angry, and all at once sad. How could Juanita think I was talking about her? Why would I? She's my best friend! If anything, I was talking about her because I was worried about her. It was then that I noticed that people were whispering around me again. I couldn't take it anymore. I pushed through the crowd of kids in the hallway and ran into the bathroom. Oh my God. I really had lost my best friend this time. What was I going to do? I knew Juanita would believe whatever Matt told her. And from that conversation we just had, I don't think Matt will work in my favor. Oh my God. How did this happen? I didn't even do anything. I was just worried about her. And I didn't even talk about her at school! I talked about her at home with Nat. Oh my God. I need to talk to Nat. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. What am I going to do? How am I supposed to survive the rest of the day? And then, all of a sudden, the feeling in my stomach got worse. Much, much worse. Then before I knew it, I was watching as my breakfast reappeared.

…

I was now lying in the nurse's office. She'd asked for my dad's number but when I told her that he was out of town I gave her the closest thing to my dad's number. I gave her Jesse's number. Even though I really wanted to talk to Nat, I knew Jesse was my way home, and possibly to Nat. The feeling in my stomach was still there. It wasn't as bad as it was in the bathroom though. After I threw up, I trudged into the lunch room and over to where one of the teachers who was on "lunch room duty" was sitting and told her what happened. Juanita and Matt were nearby and I could've sworn I saw a worried expression on Juanita's face but the minute I looked over she looked away. Then the teacher walked me to the nurse's office and here I am.

Suddenly someone walked into the office and I sat up quickly.

It was Jesse who gave me a smile and looked over to the nurse. "I'm Jesse Cook. I'm here for Alex."

The nurse had Jesse sign something and then she was able to take me home. As we were walking out of the school, Jesse looked at me. "Are you feeling okay Alex?"

I shrugged.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I want to talk to Nat," I said.

"Well you're going to have to wait until he gets home from school."

I looked down at my feet. This day couldn't get any worse. For the first time in a long time, Jesse took my hand.

"It'll be okay Alex. How about we go home and watch your favorite movie?"

Usually, I'd be all for watching Tony Hawk's Safe Skateboarding Tips. But today, all it did was remind me of the reason I was home. The reason I got sick. The reason everyone was staring, glaring, and whispering. The reason I sit alone at the lunch table. The reason my best friend doesn't talk to me anymore.

**~NBB~**

Later on that day, while I was trying to watch some cartoon that usually I probably would see as entertaining, Nat walked into the apartment. He looked worriedly at me, looked at Jesse sitting in the kitchen, then back at me. He walked into the kitchen, quietly talked to Jesse, who then left the apartment after saying goodbye, and sat down next to me. "How're you feeling, Alex?"

I shrugged.

"I have a funny feeling that you're not really that sick."

"Juanita hates me," I mumbled.

"Hates you? What are you talking about?"

"Juanita hates me!" I shouted, then immediately regretted it. I could feel the tears in my eyes. "Juanita hates me. Everybody hates me," I mumbled.

"I'm sure that's not true. What happened?"

"Today when I got to school everybody was glaring at me. And some were whispering or staring at me. I heard what they said! 'Did you hear what he did?' 'He's a backstabber.' 'He's a fake.' Don't you know how that makes me feel?" By now tears started making their way down my face, but I didn't even notice.

Nat was still confused. "What did you do?"

"Everyone thinks that I talked bad about Juanita behind her back. Everybody hates me," I repeated.

"Alex, that's not true. You know that's not true."

"It's true. I don't have any friends. My best one hates me."

"Alex, stop talking like that. It's just a huge misunderstanding. Tomorrow you can just go and explain to Juanita that you didn't talk behind her back."

"She won't talk to me when she's alone, and Matt won't let me near her when he's around."

"I'm sorry Alex. But if they don't believe you over someone else, they don't deserve you as a friend. You don't need people like that around."

"But she's my best friend!" I said, as more tears streamed down my face.

"Look, I know it'll be hard. But things will get better. This all will probably blow over in a few weeks anyway."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, now calm down. And don't cry Alex," He said, putting an arm around me. "It'll get better."

I wiped my tears away with my shirt. "You think so?"

"Yeah; so what if none of those kids are smart enough to be your friend? Every day after school it'll be just me and you, and sometimes Rosalina. We'll have way more fun than any of those kids."

"I don't know," I said shrugging again.

"Alex, we're in a world famous band. I think we can have a little more fun."

"Oh my God, the band! I almost totally forgot about it. Don't we have practices?"

"Yes and no," Nat said. "We have practices but I asked Cooper if you and I could skip a few this week."

"Why?"

"Well at least just for today. I think we both deserve a day off."

* * *

**A/N-Aww, I wish I had an older brother like Nat. Poor Alex though. ): **

**Wanna review? (: **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	5. Well Deserved Day Off

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys! **

**I'm back from vacation! I can see I've got some new readers on here so I've been working hard on updating for you guys. I even cut into my vacation time to write! (Not that I minded, I really wanted to write anyway.) So thank you all for being so patient!(: I'll start updating regularly again!**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Nat's and my "day off" included us sitting around literally doing nothing but watching TV and eating popcorn. It was actually a lot of fun because we got to joke around a lot, which is what we do anyway, and just hang out with each other. It made me feel a lot better to know that Nat cared enough to skip band practice with me. (Because trust me, it takes _a lot _to get Nat to skip.) The feeling in my stomach was gone, and I'd actually barely thought about Juanita or any of the kids at school. "Hey Nat," I said, looking over at him at the other end of the couch. "Do you think Juanita will forgive me?"

"Forgive you? If anything, you should be the one to forgive her. You didn't do anything."

"Okay, okay, let me say that again. Do you think Juanita will ever talk to me again?"

"How could she not? She's known you since you were eight years old, Alex. If your eight year old self didn't steer her off I don't know what will."

"Hey!" I said, throwing a pillow at him.

Nat laughed. "Seriously though Alex, I'm sure she'll talk to you again. And if she doesn't…" He trailed off, looking away.

"What's that supposed to me?"

"Don't work yourself up again," He said, looking back at me. "But I'm just saying, if she wouldn't talk to you again, for some weird reason, then it just wasn't meant to be. You don't need someone like that in your life anyway, Alex. You're supposed to surround yourself with people who support you and care about you."

"I know but it's Juanita–"

"Juanita isn't a special exception, Alex. If she's going to be like this, and believes someone else over you, and especially makes you so upset you get sick…" He shook his head. "I don't want you to be friends with her."

I sat up and looked him in the eye. "You can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with."

"Alex, calm down, I'm just saying you shouldn't be friends with her if she's going to do this to you. She's not worth it."

"How can you say that?" I snapped. "She's my best friend!"

"Alex, stop it! Stop saying that! If she was your best friend she wouldn't believe what other people say without asking you first. I know Juanita too, I know how much she means to you, but if she's going to treat you like this, _she _doesn't deserve _your _friendship!"

I sighed as I fell back into the couch. "I know…"

"I'm sorry Alex. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't, but it's just hard…you know? I miss talking to her."

"I would too. But hey," Nat said, giving me a goofy grin. "You've still got me. You'll always have me."

"Darn," I joked.

Just as I said this, the phone rang. Nat shook his head, stood up from the couch, messed up my hair and walked away to find the phone.

It was then that my thoughts drifted back to school. I'm sure tomorrow there would be more whispers because everyone would wonder why I disappeared in the middle of the day. I wonder if Juanita wondered why. I wonder if she cared. Usually if this would've happened, she probably would've skated over here the minute school let out to see what was wrong. But now with her boyfriend around, she probably doesn't even skate anymore.

"Alex, I have some good news," Nat said, walking back over and sitting next to me.

"What is it?" I asked, looking at him.

"Dad's coming home tomorrow."

"Great," I mumbled, turning back to the TV.

"I thought you'd be more excited," He said. "We haven't seen Dad in weeks."

"I know, but Dad just…Dad doesn't get it. And have you ever noticed how smooth things run when he isn't around?"

"Alex, that's a terrible thing to say," Nat said sternly.

"Sorry," I said. "But think about it, Nat. When he's not here, we don't have to worry about Betty or anything. We just have to worry about ourselves."

"That's true. But does Dad really cause that many problems when he's here anyway? All he does is play his accordion."

"True…but wait! Do I have to stay home tomorrow?"

"We'll see how you feel, okay?"

**~NBB~**

After dinner, Nat called Rosalina for their daily talk on the phone and he even put it on speaker so we could all talk. After that he called Cooper and talked about I don't know what, we played around on our instruments and then we went to bed. And as I was lying in bed that night I started thinking about how much Nat really does care about me. I mean, he says it all the time He even said it long before any of this happened, but he'd never really shown it until now. It meant a lot. It made me realize how much he cared, and the same went for Rosalina. I always knew we were friends and everything, but I never thought she cared about me so much. As for the guys, I don't know what they think because, now that I think about it, I haven't seen them in a while. Hopefully tomorrow Nat will let me go to practice. "Nat, are you awake?" I whispered.

"Are you okay Alex?" He whispered back immediately.

"I'm fine. I was just wondering if you were still awake."

"Yeah, I am."

"I was just wondering…can I go to band practice tomorrow?"

He laughed quietly. "We'll see Alex, okay? Just get some sleep now."

"Okay…thanks Nat."

**~NBB~**

"Alex, remember–"

"I know, I know. Don't worry Nat, I'll be fine. How much worse can it get?" The next morning I felt…a little better. At least, I felt well enough to go to school.

"Okay…well have a good day. We'll see you later," He said.

"See you later, Alex," Rosalina spoke up.

"Bye guys." I walked into the middle school and tried my hardest to ignore all the staring and whispering. Nat was probably right. This would all blow over in a few days and everything would go back to normal, right? This time, while I was walking to homeroom I bumped into Matt again, but this time he shoved me and said, "Watch it, backstabber."

"I'm not a backstabber. Maybe you should get your facts straight before you go calling someone a name," I snapped at him.

He stepped really close to me, so close that we were only an inch apart. "You better watch what you say. Otherwise your reputation won't be the only thing that'll have a bruise."

I wanted to say something that I knew would make him mad. I wanted to say it just to make him mad. But I knew that would only give him a reason to hate me. I didn't want that. I turned away from him, and stormed away. In homeroom, I sat alone at my desk. I opened a notebook and started writing:

_Personality, immortality, I saw it's rainin' outside, it's rainin' outside, the changing. Personality, rationality, fame has died you think that you cried and you're gone. And I'm waitin' I'm slaving for this moment I just can't wait anymore. Changing, waiting, changing, waiting. The big style isn't worth the while, she screams at me it seems to be that we're fadin'. All my photographs, all the perfect laughs, are gone from me, it seems to be that we're changing. Personality, rationality, fame has died, and you think that you tried, and you're gone. And I'm waitin', I'm slaving for this moment I just can't wait anymore. Changing, waiting, changing, waiting, changing, waiting, changing, waiting. _

It was an old song, I know. I'd written it when I was nine years old. But it really felt good right now. And if I could, I'd read this to Juanita to tell her how I really felt. But I couldn't and I wouldn't, so I didn't.

…

The rest of the day was basically the same as yesterday. People still stared and whispered. I was learning to live with it though. As I walked into the lunch room, my stomach tied itself into a knot again. And for good reason. As I pulled open the door, Juanita walked out and stared at me. We stood staring at each other for a few minutes until she continued walking out of the cafeteria. I glanced inside the cafeteria and made a split second decision and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Sitting in the bathroom alone during lunch is less humiliating then sitting in the cafeteria alone where everyone could see you. I had barely pushed the door open when I heard voices in the bathroom. I froze in place.

"I heard that his dad left him and his brother," One voice said.

"I would too. He's such a liar. He makes everyone think he's an innocent little kid but he's not. He spreads rumors about everybody else," A voice that I recognized as Matt's said.

"But Alex doesn't seem like that," Another voice said.

"He talks about Juanita," Matt said.

"But how do you know? Did you ask him?" The second voice asked.

"No, but what's the point of that? He wouldn't admit it anyway."

"I don't know, Matt…that doesn't sound like Alex."

"Look, Alex Wolff is a lying backstabber. End of story."

* * *

**A/N-Matt's a jerk. I hate him. **

**Lol. (He's based off of someone I know.)**

**Review please? **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	6. An Unexpectedly Good Turn

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**Okay so I've got some good news. For those of you asking if I had a Twitter, yes I know, I said that I had one but it was my personal one and I couldn't give it to you and yeah...but NOW I made a Twitter strictly for people who want to follow me for updates on my writing. I guess I should mention it to you now that I want to be an actual author and that I do write and occasionally post original stories on if you want to check out my stories there I'm: WriterAtHeart12! And on Twitter I'm WriterAtHeart14! Sooo you can follow me and I'll post updates about this story, and possibly even original stories that I plan to possibly post on Fiction Press! I haven't tweeted anything yet but that's because I literally just made it today and I don't feel right tweeting if no one's following me...so if you have a Twitter you can follow me there! (: **

**Oh and I'm really sorry for this late update but I don't know I've just had a hard time writing. Also, I feel this story is kind of in a rut because it consists of Alex going to school, being basically bullied, coming home, talking to Nat or Rosalina, then occasionally going to band practice. I hope you guys don't see it that way, because I'm really trying to make it more interesting but I'm a little stuck. But...I'll work on it! I promise(: **

**Anywayyyy... **

**Enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

"How was school today, Alex?"

I was getting tired of the question. Every day since this whole "Juanita problem" started I come home with worse news each day. I knew Nat was only trying to be nice but this question was beginning to get on my nerves. "Eh," I said, shrugging.

Nat looked at me over his shoulder. "Eh?" He asked in confusion.

"It wasn't the best day."

Rosalina glanced at Nat.

Nat didn't look at her. "Well, look at it this way. At least Dad's coming home today."

"Whoopee," I said dully.

"We have band practice today," He added hopefully.

It made me feel slightly better. "Cool."

Today was one of the days that Rosalina stayed at our house after school, since we had rehearsal, Nat and I rode with her instead of walking like we usually do. "Alex, you should get started on your homework," Nat said, as we walked into the apartment. "I want a majority of it to be done before practice."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I mumbled, walking straight past the kitchen and turning down the hall to go into Nat's and my bedroom. I shut the door behind me and fell onto the bed. I sighed. Let's review. First, Juanita won't talk to me. Then I find out that everyone thinks I'm talking badly about her. _Then _when I try to explain, she won't talk to me. _Now _her stupid boyfriend is talking about me behind my back to everyone else, so now everyone will probably start talking about me. Fantastic. I sat up and pulled my backpack onto my bed to start homework. I was pulling out my books and stuff when someone opened the door.

"Hey, you okay Alex?" Nat asked, sticking his head in the room.

"I'm fine," I said, not looking up at him.

"Did anything happen today?"

"Nothing good." Hey, I wasn't lying. Finding out that people are talking about you behind your back is never a good thing.

"Does that mean something bad happened?"

I looked up at him. "Matt is talking about me behind my back."

Nat came inside the bedroom and shut the door behind him. "Matt is Juanita's boyfriend right?"

I nodded.

"Maybe if you told Juanita that Matt was talking about you, she'd dump him." He sat next to me.

"No, she wouldn't believe me now. She'd think I was just lying or something."

"Alex, I'm sure not _everyone _will believe everything Matt says."

"You'd be surprised," I said sighing again.

"The kids who believe him aren't worth it. You don't need them as your friend," He assured me.

I just shrugged, looking down.

"But hey," Nat said, trying to get my attention.

I looked up at him.

"Start your homework. We have band practice in an hour." He grinned at me.

I tried to hide a smile. I've been dying to go to practice. It helps me get my mind off of things. "Okay."

"Are you still going to do your homework in here?" He asked, getting off the bed.

I shook my head as I shoved all of my books back into my backpack. "I'll come and do it in the kitchen."

"Good," Nat said, smiling at me.

I followed him into kitchen and Rosalina looked up from where she was sitting at the table already starting on her homework. She smiled at me. "Everything okay?" She asked, looking back and forth between Nat and me.

I nodded as I sat down at the table and Nat smiled as he hopped up on the counter nearby.

**~NBB~**

I stepped out of Rosalina's car and looked up at the studio. It felt like forever since I'd last been here. In reality it'd been only a week, but after everything that's happened, it feels like much longer. We walked inside and Cooper was the only one there. "Hey Coop," Nat greeted.

"Hey guys," Cooper said, looking up from his phone.

I ran over to where my drum set was and sat behind it. I looked at Nat. He already knew what I was thinking.

"Go for it, bro."

I started practically banging on the drums, in a specific rhythm of course. I couldn't bang just anything. I was playing one of my drum solos from one of the past tours, but it was extra loud this time. I needed to get some anger out, even though right now I felt really happy playing the drums. Playing the drums was my outlet. When I stopped Cooper looked really confused, but Rosalina and Nat didn't seem fazed at all.

"Alex, what the heck was–"

Nat cut him off by whispering something to him.

Cooper seemed to understand whatever Nat said, and just nodded. "Good to see you've still got it, Alex."

I nodded as David, Thomas and Qaasim walked into the studio.

Nat pulled them all aside and whispered something to them.

At first, my curiosity rose and I wondered what they were talking about. But then I realized they must be talking about me. Why else wouldn't I be included in the conversation? Nat was probably telling them about what happened. Hopefully not _everything _but enough to understand.

"Great, now you guys can get started," Cooper said, walking away from the group.

They all walked over to their instruments and Nat looked at me from the piano. "Let's do 'Body I Occupy'," He said, scanning the band's faces.

They all shrugged or nodded.

I was happy because I knew I got to start it and the drums were a huge part in this song. As we started playing, and got more into the song I did something I hadn't done in a while.

I smiled.

I smiled a smile that felt so good, because right now, playing the drums made me feel really happy. I don't even know why it made me so happy right now. I've played drums plenty of times. Maybe it's because of everything that was going on. I don't know. But what I do know that when Nat walked away from the piano and walked around singing, he saw me smiling and he gave me a look that made me even happier. And when he did that, I realized something else. I realized that in this moment, everything was fine. I was doing what I loved, and it made me happy. It didn't matter about the rest of those kids. Nat was right. I didn't need them. They weren't worth my time. What I should be focusing on is the band. Who knows, hopefully Cooper will book us some shows soon and we'll be so busy practicing and performing I'll forget about Juanita and everyone and everything else.

"That was awesome, guys!" Nat said happily, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I think that was your guys' best performance of that song yet," Cooper said, smiling at us.

"I think so too," I said, still smiling like an idiot.

"Let's try one of Alex's songs," Nat suggested.

Everyone looked at me.

My smile slightly faded, but it didn't disappear. Not yet. "I Could Be?" I asked, looking around at the band.

They agreed and we started playing. The song went amazing in my opinion. Not once did I think about Juanita or anything though. That's what made it so good. All I thought about was the song, and the music. Nothing else. And I smiled the whole time. It was something I hadn't done in a while. I could tell Nat noticed, and he gave Rosalina a look which made her smile. Nothing can ruin this either, I thought. I could walk outside and have all those kids shout the most terrible names they could think of, but it still wouldn't ruin my mood. Not right now, anyway. Right now, I was the drummer of the Naked Brothers Band. The happy, crazy, energetic kid that the world knew me as. I felt the same way I did when I first started playing the drums. I can't even explain how happy I felt.

When the song was over, Cooper walked over to us. "I've got some good news guys."

"What is it, Cooper?" Nat asked, as we all looked at Cooper expectantly.

"We have an upcoming performance at the park this Saturday afternoon."

We all cheered.

"Nat, you'll have to figure out a set list, and we're going to have to practice as much as possible if we're going to be ready by Saturday."

My situation had taken an unexpectedly, good turn.

* * *

**But the question is...will it last? **

**Keep checking back! (: **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	7. A Punch In the Face

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**I'm glad everyone is liking this story! (: It really means a lot to me when you guys review and stuff. I am working on the oneshot that I mentioned and I'm also working on other possible story for you guys but I'm not positive on whether or not I'll post the story. But we'll see. **

**Enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

It's been a few days since I found out Matt was talking about me behind my back. I was secretly trying to work up the courage to say something to Juanita, not just about Matt but about everything. So far, I've had no luck. On the brighter side, the band has had practices all week, so it helped me get my mind off of things. Plus, Dad had come home, but he'd been staying at Crazy Betty's house because they were practicing for shows at local restaurants. Anyway, our concert was in four days now, and there was nothing around school about it. Usually when the band has some type of performance everyone gets really excited for it, but right now, at least to my knowledge, no one seems that happy about it at all. It was probably because everyone thought I was a jerk or something. Don't think about that! You're not the jerk here, I reminded myself. That's Matt. I walked into lunch, trying to build my confidence as I made my way over to Juanita's lunch table. I walked over and stood next to her at the table. Matt was the first to see me.

"Oh look everyone, it's the backstabber."

The table, besides Juanita, laughed.

Juanita's reaction was the worst of all. She only stared at me with this blank expression, her eyes were unreadable and the frown on her face practically stabbed me in the gut.

"Juanita, can I talk to you, in private?" I asked, trying to keep eye contact with her.

She only stared at me, until Matt stood up.

"Look, Little Drummer Boy," He said, as the rest of the table laughed. "Juanita doesn't want to talk to you. She doesn't need you in her life anymore."

"Stop talking for her. She's not stupid; she's a real live person. If she doesn't want to talk to me, she can tell me herself."

Matt stepped close to me, probably as close as we could get without touching. "Stay away from her." He turned to walk away but stopped when I spoke up.

"What if I don't want to?"

He turned back around and punched me in the jaw.

I stumbled backward from the impact and held my jaw. I refused to show pain though, that would only give him satisfaction. I didn't, however, hold my back my shock. I hated Matt, with everything I had but I never thought he would hurt anyone. I quickly turned my shocked expression into a glare, and glanced at Juanita.

She looked just as shocked as I was, but when she saw me looking she returned to her seemingly permanent frown.

I got this disgusting taste in my mouth. I hope I don't throw up here. Not now. Not again.

"You want another one?" He asked, staring me in the eye.

"When Juanita tells me she doesn't want me to be around her, I'll leave her alone." I glanced at Juanita, and walked away, out of the cafeteria and into the bathroom. When I walked into the bathroom it was then that I realized I was tasting blood in my mouth. I leaned on the sink and stared at my reflection. The spot on my jaw where Matt punched me was red, and it would probably turn into a small bruise. Great, another thing for Nat to question me about. I was trying to rinse out some blood in my mouth when the door opened. I hurried into one of the stalls as someone walked inside.

"All I'm saying is you shouldn't have punched him. You could've gotten suspended," One voice said.

"You know if you think he's such a good person, why don't you go be his only friend?" The other voice, who I guessed was Matt said.

"Maybe I will, I think he deserves it."

Suddenly there was a long silence. I peered through the crack in the stall door.

Matt walked over to the sink where I was rinsing out my mouth. He glanced into it and then looked around the bathroom.

I backed into the stall and stood on the toilet so he wouldn't be able to see my feet.

"Let's get out of here," The other voice said.

Matt didn't respond, but they both walked out of the bathroom.

I stepped off the toilet and peeked out of the stall. They were both gone. I walked out of the stall and sighed. This was going to be a long school year.

**~NBB~**

Later that day when I walked out of school, Nat stopped me by grabbing my shoulders. "Alex, what happened?" He asked, trying to look at my bruise.

"Nothing happened I just, uh–ran into something," I mumbled, turning my head so he couldn't see the bruise.

"We'll talk about this when we get home, c'mon." He grabbed my shoulder and guided me to Rosalina's car.

"Alex, what did you do?" She asked, the minute we got into the car.

"I ran into something." I said, looking away again.

She drove us home, and we all walked inside. I tried to make a break for my room, but Nat grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into the kitchen. "It's time to explain, Alex. What happened today?"

"I learned some new stuff today. You know, Algebra, Social Studies, Science–"

"Nice try," He cut me off. "How did you get that bruise?"

"I told you I ran into something," I said.

Nat sighed and looked at Rosalina over his shoulder, who crossed her arms over her chest and returned the look.

"Can I go now?"

"Not until you tell me what happened."

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing happened! I'm fine aren't I? Why does it matter?"

"Alex, if someone is physically hurting you, something needs to be done about it," Rosalina spoke up.

"Can you guys please just drop it? It won't happen again."

"Would you let us look at the bruise?" Rosalina asked, looking at me.

I shook my head.

"Alex, please. Can we at least look at it?" Nat begged.

I sighed.

Nat patted the counter. "C'mon."

I rolled my eyes again and hopped up on the counter. I turned my head so he could see the bruise.

"You ran into something, huh?" He asked, examining the bruise.

"Yeah, I wasn't paying attention."

"Are you sure you won't tell me?" Nat asked, looking me in the eye.

I wanted to tell him. He was my brother. But I couldn't, because I knew it would just cause me more problems in the end. "I already told you."

"Alright fine, go do your homework."

I hopped off the counter and walked into our room to do homework. I actually felt kind of guilty for not telling Nat, but I couldn't. Like I said, it would just cause more problems. Plus, I could handle Matt. He'd probably never dare to punch me again. And who was that with him in the bathroom today? It's someone who keeps standing up for me, that's for sure. I have to be honest and say I'm surprised. I thought after everything that's happened this week that I wouldn't have one friend left in the whole school. At least, my grade. I suddenly began to have faith in my so called "classmates."

**~NBB~**

"That's great guys!" Cooper said to us, as we finished yet another rehearsal.

I was on cloud nine again, as I had been whenever we were having practices, but when we were all getting ready to leave I remembered how there was no talk about the concert at school. It's not that I like hearing people talk about me and the band, it's just that it makes me realize how much people must really _not _like me.

"So remember, the show is in four days. We're all going to meet at Nat and Alex's house before the show and we'll take our bus from there," Cooper told us for what was probably the millionth time.

"We know, Cooper. Just relax, everything will be fine," Nat assured him.

"You always freak out over nothing," Thomas said.

"We'll rock it like we always do," I said, shrugging.

Everyone laughed.

"I know you guys will do fine, but if you guys are all goofing off, there's gotta be someone to worry about the technical stuff. It's my job," Cooper said.

"Just don't stress yourself out too much, Coop," Nat said.

"And you said so yourself, we were doing great," Rosalina added.

"So you don't have to worry," Nat said.

"Yeah, because we've already been there, rocked that," I joked.

* * *

**A/N-That last quote was from a TV special that NBB had called "Been There Rocked That" by the way. **

**Review please? **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	8. Cut to the Cheese

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**So um...I haven't been getting that many reviews lately...and I'm not saying you HAVE to review but if no one reviews I feel like no one is reading. Of course, I'm not going to stop this story just because I'm not getting reviews because that wouldn't be fair. But I'm just saying, reviews are helpful (:**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey Alex. Hey Alex, wait up!"

At first I thought I was hallucinating or something. No one's talked to me (besides Matt's threats) in days. I looked over my shoulder to see a kid I recognized as Danny running to catch up with me. When he did, he slowed to a walk next to me. "Hey Alex."

"Uh, hi," I replied, glancing at him.

"What happened to your jaw?" He asked, trying to get a look at my bruise.

"Okay, let's cut to the cheese," I said, stopping and facing him. "Everyone in class hates me. Why don't you?"

"You say you didn't say any of those things right?"

"Yeah…"

"So I believe you. I'm sorry I didn't listen before. I don't know why I'd listen to Matt of all people."

"You don't like Matt either?"

"I didn't think he was so bad, until I heard how badly he talked about you."

"He talks about me?" I asked, pretending to be shocked.

Danny looked embarrassed. "Oh…sorry. I thought you knew."

I shook my head.

"Anyway…I thought you could use a friend."

Should I believe him? With how everyone's treating me, who knows if this is a trick. I don't really need a new friend. I don't really want one either. I wanted Juanita back, not some kid I barely knew. "I don't…not really. No offense or anything… I'm just not in the mood to talk right now." I began to walk away but Danny followed.

"C'mon Alex, you can't tell me that you haven't wanted to talk to somebody about all this."

"I do talk to people about this. I talk to my brother."

"It's not the same is it? Talking to someone older than you."

I shook my head, not even glancing at him. He didn't know Nat. "It's pretty much the same thing."

"No offense Danny, but I _really _don't feel like arguing right now." I gave him a look and then hurried away. It was true, I didn't feel like arguing. Especially with someone so pushy. He didn't know Nat, he didn't know anything about me. I get it that he was trying to be my friend, but I don't need a friend. I want my old friend back.

All through the rest of the morning, Danny kept trying to talk to me. When would this kid get it through his head? I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't need to talk to him. I appreciated him trying, really I did. But I didn't need or want to talk to really anyone. If anything, I'd want to talk to Nat. But since Nat's not in school, I'll wait. I will _so_ happily wait.

Danny didn't let up though. At lunch, he sat himself across from me where Juanita would usually sit. I wanted to tell him to go away, and that he couldn't sit there, but I kept my mouth shut, and was polite to him. Well…sort of.

He was trying to make conversation, and I appreciated that too. But I wasn't in the mood for talking. Actually, I wasn't really in the mood for doing anything. I just wanted to go home, and go to band practice. That was probably the only time I was happy.

It was when Danny had tried yet again, to start up the conversation by bringing up one of our teachers when I finally…snapped.

"I don't care!" I blurted out suddenly, catching myself by surprise. "I really _don't _care. I appreciate you trying to be my friend, but I don't need a friend right now. I want to be alone." I got up from the table and stormed away, no doubt catching Danny off guard.

**~NBB~**

"Alex, are you–?"

"I'm fine," I snapped, after holding it in since I got home. "I'm fine, I'm fine, _I'm fine_. Can we just go to practice?"

Nat gave me a strange look. "Okay, okay. Geeze, I didn't know you were so jumpy. What's wrong, dude?" We were walking to the studio, Rosalina had some stuff to do today so she wasn't with us.

"Nothing...it's just all this stuff at school."

"Talk to me, Alex. What happened?"

"This kid at school keeps trying to be my friend," I explained.

This time he gave me a really strange look. "That's what you're upset about? A kid is trying to be your friend?"

"It's not like that. I'm glad _someone _is finally trying, but I don't _want _a new friend. I want my old friend."

"Alex, I understand that but don't you think you're exaggerating it a little bit? If this kid is trying to be your friend, maybe you should let him. Or her."

"It's annoying! And then he kept saying how 'you're older brother wouldn't understand' or 'shouldn't you talk to someone your own age?' I don't want a friend like that. I want a friend not a therapist."

"Alex…"

"Nat, if you had this kid following you around all day you'd feel the exact same way. You've never had someone follow you around all day, trying to get them to like you."

"Actually, I had a boy do that at the fair the one time…"

"Not the point."

"Either way, maybe you should give the kid a chance. At least he's smart enough to realize you'd never say any of those things."

"Yeah, but he said that stuff about you–"

"Alex, don't worry about me. I'm glad you care, but I'm not the one who has the problem here. I don't care what an eighth grader thinks about me, okay?"

"But Nat–"

"Alex, c'mon please. Just give this kid a chance."

I gave Nat a look.

"It could turn out to be a good thing."

I only stared at him.

"Okay fine, how about…tomorrow you give him a chance and invite him to the concert. See what happens. If after, before or during the concert you still don't like the kid, you don't have to be friends with him."

I sighed. "I'll give him a chance, but I'm _not _inviting him to the concert."

"I just hate to see you like this. You deserve a good friend so that you can have someone to talk to."

"I have you…and Rosalina."

"Oh yeah, like you tell us everything," He said.

"I do too!"

"Where'd you get the bruise?"

I was quiet for a few minutes until I spoke up again. "I ran into something," I mumbled.

"You're lying."

"Am not!"

"You are too, and I can tell. Even Rosalina can tell, Alex."

"Well so what if I am?" I asked, looking at him. "It doesn't matter how I got it. I got it, and it's over with. The bruise will be gone soon anyway." We made it to the studio and I quickly made my way up the steps, hoping to avoid any more questions.

"Alex, wait."

I stopped and turned around to face Nat, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs while I was on the second to the top.

"If it ever happens again," He was being dead serious. That's when I knew he meant it. "You have to tell me how, who, and why. Do you understand?"

I nodded, knowing that Nat seriously meant it. I knew if I didn't pull through on this promise, Nat had his ways of finding out what happened. And the last thing I needed was for Nat to get involved. That would just make everything a whole lot worse.

"I'm still a little upset that you won't tell me what happened yesterday," He said, looking right at me.

I looked at the ground.

"But since it's only a little bruise, I'll let it slide."

"I swear Nat, it'll never happen again," I promised, looking up at him. "And if it does, you'll be the first to know exactly what happened." He nodded and we walked inside the studio for practice. But I wasn't as happy as I had been lately; because even though I promised Nat, I don't think I can convince myself it won't happen again.

* * *

**A/N-I really like writing this story (:**

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	9. Now Comes The Notes

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**I'm SO SORRY for the late update, I kind of messed up the story and I had to fix it before I posted this chapter and ugh. Lol. It took a while but I fixed it (: **

**Thanks for being patient(: **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Alex, could I talk to you for a second?"

We were taking a break between songs at practice that day. I was talking to Thomas and David about something when Cooper called me over. "Sure, Cooper." I walked away from Thomas and David and over to where Cooper was waiting, doing something on his phone. "What's up?"

He tucked his phone back into his pocket. "Well, Nat's told me a few things and I was just wondering…are you okay?"

What had Nat told him? "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay…I just wanted you to know that he's right. Those kids are ridiculous for believing someone else over you. You don't need someone like that in your life."

I looked down. "Yeah, I know."

"And I know that Juanita's been your best friend for a long time, so I know this is hard."

I looked back up at him and shrugged.

"Just know that you've got the entire band with you as your friends, okay? You don't need people who will make you feel bad."

I nodded. "I know. Thanks Cooper." I turned and walked back to my drum set but not before Nat could stop me. "What's up, bro?"

"What did Cooper want?" He asked.

"He was just talking to me about the…Juanita thing."

"What'd he say?"

"Basically the same thing you did."

"Okay. So you're okay, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay guys, so listen up," Cooper said, walking over to stand in front of the group. "Our concert is in a few days and everything is going very smooth, like I've said."

"So then what's up Coop?" Nat asked.

"I just wanted to make sure everybody else was okay."

What did Cooper mean? Was this because of me? I looked around at the rest of the band, who looked just as confused as I was.

"What do you mean Cooper?" David spoke up.

"I just want to make sure that everyone else is okay. You know to make sure there are no problems or anything."

Okay, now I'm ninety-five percent sure this was because of me. "What kind of problems?" I asked.

"Any kind of problems; as your manager it's my job to make sure you all are safe and able to perform. But because I'm also your friend, I want to make sure you all are okay and don't have any problems, like at school or something.

Now I knew this was about me. "Do you mean about what happened with Juanita?" I blurted out.

Everyone looked at me.

"You guys don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. Don't worry about my personal life."

"Alex, we're not trying to meddle into your personal life we just–"

"I know, I know. You're just trying to help. I get it, and I really appreciate it but I don't need help. I promised Nat if anything happened I'd come to him for help and if I ever needed it I know I could come to any one of you guys for help too." I looked around at my band mates. "But I don't need it. So don't worry about me, okay? Let's just worry about this concert we have. I don't want to think about what happens at school."

"Whatever you say, Alex," Thomas said.

"You're right though, Alex, you can come to any of us for help at anytime," Cooper said.

The band nodded in agreement.

"I know, and I'm glad. But I don't need help, okay? I'm fine. I know you may not believe me, but I am."

"You're sure, little man?" Qaasim spoke up.

I nodded. "I promise."

Nat walked over to me and put his arm around me. "We're just trying to look out for you, Alex."

"Thanks guys," I said, smiling at them.

"Group hug!" Thomas shouted.

We then attempted a group hug but just ended up stepping on each other and squashing each other but that's okay.

It's the thought that counts though, right?

**~NBB~**

"Hey Alex!"

I groaned quietly, and shut my locker to see who was calling my name. It was Danny again, big surprise. But then I remember what Nat said and I put my annoyance to the side.

Danny walked up to me. "What's up?" He asked.

I wanted to groan again, but I didn't. "Uh…nothing."

"How are the rehearsals going?"

I gave him a look.

"For the concert on Saturday? You guys are rehearsing aren't you?"

I nodded. "Oh…yeah, we are."

"Are you guys ready for it?"

"Yeah, I think it'll be a good show."

"Awesome."

I looked up at him so I could say more but instead, I noticed Juanita and Matt standing near one of the nearby lockers. God I missed talking to Juanita. I missed it so much, I can't even explain it. I don't even know why I missed it. I mean after everything that's happened, I shouldn't miss it. But I do.

"C'mon Alex," Danny said, noticing me staring. "Let's go to class."

When we walked into homeroom, there were only a few other kids there. Obviously, Juanita and Matt weren't there yet so for that I was thankful. But I'd be even more thankful if I could get some kind of distraction to get Danny away from me. Like I said, I appreciated the fact that he wanted to be my friend, but the kid was starting to annoy me. I looked around the room, trying to drown out Danny's talking in my ear. It was then that I noticed people were whispering again. But that wasn't what bothered me so much. When they whispered, they were looking at me. And some of them were laughing. I faced forward quickly hoping that they didn't see me staring. God I hate it. I hate them too. I just don't get it. I didn't even do anything and everyone is talking about me.

"Danny! Hey Danny!" came a voice from the back of the room.

I glanced over my shoulder and watched as a crumpled up piece of paper came flying across the room. Danny caught it and opened it. I leaned over to try to glance at the paper but Danny crumpled it back up quickly and stood up from his desk. "You shouldn't read it," He said, as he walked over to the trash can. "You probably wouldn't want to know." He tossed the paper into the trash and walked back to sit down.

"What did it say?" I whispered, looking at him.

Danny shook his head. "Nothing good. People are just jerks."

I sighed and slouched in my chair. This was going to be a long day.

**~NBB~**

"Hey Nat?" I called, while I was sitting at the table doing my homework.

"Yeah, Alex?" He asked, coming into the kitchen.

"Do you think it's normal to miss talking to Juanita and stuff?" I asked, looking up at him.

Nat leaned against the counter, standing silently for a few seconds. "Well…she was your best friend. And she was close to you. So yeah, I think it's normal."

"Is it bad that I still want her as my friend?"

"I mean…she's put you through all this crazy stuff, and she believed someone else over you and I personally wouldn't want someone like that as my friend but I know that you and Juanita have done a lot together and have known each other for a while. So…I guess it's understandable if you still want her around. She was your best friend."

I nodded slowly, and looked back at my homework.

"Why do you ask? Did something happen today at school?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," I said, continuing my work. "Everyone still hates me."

"Alex, honestly, I'm sure this will all blow over soon. And even if it doesn't, you're going into high school next year. You'll meet a bunch of new people and you'll forget all about Juanita and Matt."

I know Nat was only trying to comfort me, but it wasn't working. See, that was the problem. I don't _want_ to forget about Juanita. I don't want to stop being her friend. I don't want to end eighth grade terribly and have her hate me for probably the rest of our lives! I have to fix this. But how?

* * *

**A/N-You guys liking the story? (: **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	10. Finally Have Courage

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**Well... actually I think this story will be ending soon. Don't worry though, I've already got it written out and everything. I finished writing this story just today but I'm going to space out the posts so it lasts longer. This is NOT the last chapter but we are getting closer to the end. **

**But for now...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The next morning I woke up to pounding on the door. At first, it was so loud I thought it was on Nat's and my bedroom door. But as I woke up, I realized it must've been the front door. I jumped up and shook Nat in his bed. "Nat, wake up! Wake up!"

He sat up and leaned on his elbow. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's pounding on the door!"

He woke up immediately and jumped off the top bunk. We both ran out of our room but slowed down when we reached the front door. Nat tip-toed over to the door and looked through the peep-hole. He looked confused as he opened the door. "What are you guys doing here?"

I walked up to stand beside him and saw the entire band standing outside our door. "What _are _you guys doing here?"

"Good morning to you too," Thomas joked.

"Answer the question," I said irritably, with the rude, early awakening setting in.

"We thought we could all ride to school together," Cooper answered for them.

"Yeah, you know…uh…car-pool," David spoke up.

"Car-pool?" Nat asked, obviously not buying it.

"We can save the environment too," Qaasim said.

"Trust me, I've tried that with you guys. No you can't," I said, crossing my arms.

Nat stepped aside. "C'mon in, guys."

The four of them walked inside the apartment and sat themselves around the living room.

"I'm going to go get changed…" I said, sneaking out of the room. I quickly got changed into some actual clothes and was walking back to the living room when I heard Nat and the guys talking. I stopped and stood quietly in the hallway.

"So why are you guys really here?"

"We wanted to make sure Alex was okay," Cooper said.

"Alex is fine," Nat said.

"Well we wanted to be sure that he knew we were here for him," Qaasim said.

"He knows guys, don't worry. In fact, he'll probably be upset if he finds out that's why you're here."

"Why?" Thomas asked.

"I mean, he appreciates the fact that you guys care I'm sure, but he doesn't like all the attention. And to be honest, I don't want to keep reminding him of what's going on."

"We were just trying to help," Cooper said.

"I know. But you guys don't see him after school. He looks so upset and almost miserable…just don't bring it up, okay? Don't tell him that's why you're–"

I walked into the living room and they all looked at me. "Is everything okay?" I asked, even though I knew what they were talking about.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Nat said. "The guys just needed a ride to school today."

"Well that's cool, but I hope you guys are prepared for cereal as a breakfast," I said, walking into the kitchen.

…

"Thomas, David, put a seat belt on _right now._"

We were all packed into Rosalina's car, which I've failed to mention until now, isn't _that _big. Including the driver, it's only supposed to seat five people. And yeah, I know there's only one extra person but when you're us–it's a tight fit.

"But David is practically on top of me," Thomas complained.

"Power through it, Tom," I said, attempting to pat his shoulder, but failing because David and Cooper were in the way.

"If I get pulled over because of you two, you're paying for the ticket," Rosalina threatened, looking at them in the rearview mirror.

"I have to agree, this isn't one of our best ideas," Cooper said.

"You think?" Qaasim asked, from the other side of me, glancing at our manager.

I was actually kind of enjoying this. I thought it was kind of funny.

"Shouldn't Alex be on someone's lap? He's the smallest," David asked.

"_No way _am I sitting on one of your guys' laps," I said, shaking my head. "Plus, you might win the award of smallest soon, David. I'm almost taller than you."

"He's got a point there dude," Thomas said.

"He's got squat," David said.

"You're squat," I shot back, remembering the conversation Thomas and David told they had.

Everyone in the car laughed.

"We should do this every morning," Nat spoke up from the passenger seat.

"If we do, you guys are going to have to learn how to squeeze together back there," Rosalina said.

"What do you call what we're doing now?" I asked.

"Luckily we're here," Rosalina said, parking the car in front of Amigos.

"Thomas, open–the–door!" I said.

"No, don't open the door!" David said, trying to grab onto something.

It was too late though as Thomas forced the door open and he and David fell out of it. Cooper, Qaasim and I got out the other side and I ran around to see David and Thomas.

"Very smooth landing guys," I laughed as Nat and Cooper helped them up.

"If anyone asks," Rosalina said, walking over to stand next to me. "This wasn't my car."

I laughed. "I'll see you guys later." I turned to walk into the middle school.

"Wait Alex," Nat said.

I turned around to face him and the rest of the band.

"Have a good day, okay?"

I nodded and smiled at all of them. "I'll be fine guys. I promise." I turned and walked into school, but I could still feel all of their eyes on me until I got into the building.

…

I was sitting at lunch that day when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and was surprised to see Juanita standing behind me. I was afraid of what she might say. "Can I talk to you after school today?"

We have practice right after school. "Uh yeah, sure."

She nodded and walked away from me, back over to where Matt and his friends were sitting.

I got that terrible feeling in my stomach again. This could be good or bad, and I was afraid to find out.

Danny must've seen what happened he sat down quickly. "What happened?"

Should I tell him? No, he'd probably find out anyway. "Nothing."

"Obviously something happened. I mean Juanita hasn't talked to you in weeks and now all of a sudden she walks over and talks to you?"

"It's nothing. Just drop it, Danny."

"But Alex–"

"I don't want to talk about it," I interrupted him.

After that Danny wouldn't leave me alone. He followed literally everywhere except–thankfully–the bathroom. And I could tell he'd been trying to bring up what happened but I would always either cut him off or walk away. I didn't want to talk about it because I still had that feeling in my stomach and I wasn't about to make it worse.

When the last bell had rung I finished putting my books away and walked towards the front doors. Juanita hadn't come talk to me so I assumed she forgot.

"Alex." I looked over my shoulder and saw Juanita run to catch up to me. "Can we talk?" I nodded as we moved to the side of the hall. "What's up?" I asked as if she hadn't been ignoring me for the past week or so.

"Look Alex, I heard you were talking about me. I heard what you said and I really don't need that right now so I–"

"Wait, so after everything I've done, after everything I've put myself through to try to tell you the truth, you still don't believe me?"

"What are you talking about?"

Now I was getting annoyed. "I've tried coming up to you in the hallway, in the classroom, at lunch and all you did was frown at me! And before I could get an answer from you or before I could even talk to you your boyfriend stepped in and spoke for you. I _told _you what happened! None of what you heard is true I never talked behind your back. But as for your boyfriend…he's the real backstabber."

* * *

**A/N-Oooh...what do you think will happen? How do YOU guys think the story will end? Will Juanita and Alex become friends again? **

**Leave a review!**

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	11. Slowly Slipping Up

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**I'm happy to say that I'm working on another story for you guys! I don't know when I'll publish it, but hopefully soon! I'm not sure what it's going to be called because I seriously suck with titles but here's a quick summary: **

**"My life was finally back to normal and everything was fine...until one day Nat and Alex Wolff walked back into my life. See, they disappeared two years ago for no reason and left everything behind, including Nat and my's new relationship. And when they came back and needed help, little did I know what I was getting myself into." **

**It sucks, yes. But it's all I can think of right now because it's late and I want to post this for you guys. Like I said, I don't know exactly what it'll be called yet, or when it'll be published, but it'll be out soon! Keep an eye out!(: **

**For now...**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

"You can't believe everything you hear!" She shot back.

"What if I heard it for myself? I heard Matt talking in the bathroom about me."

"So you were eavesdropping?"

"No! _I _was rinsing blood out of my mouth from when your boyfriend punched me in the jaw."

Juanita looked away.

"You don't…you don't believe me do you?"

She sighed. "Alex–"

"No save it. I have to go to rehearsal." I turned and walked down the hallway and out of the school. The minute I got out of the building I ran right into Nat.

"Hey," He said, looking at me worriedly. "Where've you been?"

"It's nothing I was just running late."

"Alex, everyone's gone. I mean besides the teachers."

"I know, but I was running late, okay? Just drop it," I said, making my way to Rosalina's car.

"Did Matt do something again?"

"No! He didn't do anything just leave it alone, Nat," I snapped.

"Alex, what happened?" He demanded.

"I'll tell you later. Let's just get to practice." We made it to the car and I squeezed into the backseat with the rest of the guys as Nat sat up in the passenger seat.

"Is everything okay?" Rosalina asked, glancing back and forth between us.

"Yeah everything's fine," I said. "I just had to talk to a teacher about some of my homework."

The guys seemed to accept the answer, but Nat and Rosalina looked at each other worriedly. To throw them off I goofed off with Thomas, David and Qaasim on the way to the studio like nothing was wrong. I couldn't stop thinking about what Juanita said. She didn't believe me at all. Besides Matt punching me, which she had to believe because she was there, she must've thought I was lying. I can't believe her. She believes other people over me, and then yells at me not to. I didn't get it. Maybe Nat's right. Maybe Juanita isn't really a good friend for me. I still miss her though. I want the old Juanita back. We got to the studio and all got out of the car and went straight into rehearsal. Even though, I seemed to be playing fine, my mind was somewhere else. I just kept replaying the conversation with Juanita over and over again. Another thing I wondered: what happened now? Was that Juanita's way of apologizing? Were things going to be easier now? What did that conversation mean? Before I knew it, practice was over and we were all going our separate ways for the night. Nat and Cooper stayed in his office for a few minutes after the guys left to go over some last minute things for the concert tomorrow.

Rosalina and I were sitting outside of Cooper's office waiting for them to finish. "So are you okay, Alex?" She asked, looking at me.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine."

"What did your teacher say about your homework?

Without thinking I replied, "My teacher? What are you…?" I looked up at Rosalina.

She gave me a look.

I covered my mouth, realizing that I'd slipped up. She knew the story I told was a lie now for sure.

Nat and Cooper came out of his office right then, and even though I knew it would make things worse, I bolted out of the studio and down the street towards our apartment. I'm sure Nat, Rosalina and Cooper would be really worried, and I knew that Nat and Rosalina would probably beat me home or even find me running down the street. But I didn't care. I just kept running and running, willing myself to make it home. I didn't want to talk about what happened. I didn't need to talk about what happened. It happened, and it was over with. There was nothing left to do. Eventually my legs became tired quickly, but I didn't stop. When I looked up and was able to see our building ahead of me, it gave me the boost I needed and I was able to make it inside. I didn't have the patience to wait for the elevator so I pushed myself to run up the flights of stairs to our floor, and I quickly found the spare key we keep outside, let myself in the apartment, ran into our room, and buried myself under the covers of my bed. As I laid there in the silence, the exhaustion set in, and the last thing I heard was the apartment door open and slam shut before I fell into a comforting darkness.

…

When I woke up, I was on my side facing the wall. I was no longer completely covered by my blanket (probably Nat's doing). I rolled onto my other side and squinted to see that Nat was sitting in one of the bean bag chairs in our room with his guitar and some sheet music. He hadn't noticed I was awake yet. How long had I been asleep? What time was it? I rolled onto my back and groaned to let Nat know I was awake.

He looked up at me. "Alex? You okay?"

"Yeah," I said, slowly sitting up. I rubbed my eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's almost eight o'clock. You slept for almost four hours, bro."

"Wow…where's Rosalina?"

"She left about an hour ago. She offered to stay longer but I figured she should probably just go home."

I nodded.

"What happened? Why did you run out of there? What happened at school?"

I opened my mouth to respond but Nat interrupted me.

"Don't say that you can't tell me either. I've cut you a lot of slack these past few days Alex. I let you miss practice, you missed a half a day of school, I let it slide when you wouldn't tell me about why you have that bruise and I just let you sleep for almost five hours straight while I'm sitting here, worried sick about you. I think I deserve some answers."

I sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll tell you." So I explained everything. And I mean literally everything. I told Nat about how I almost got the courage to talk to Juanita and Matt shot me down and literally punched me. I told him about Danny some more, and I told him about the conversation I had with Juanita today too. It actually felt pretty good to get it all off my chest, but hearing myself say it made me realize how bad my situation really was.

"Alex…at first, I was just saying it because I thought maybe it would make you feel better, but now I'm serious. I don't think you and Juanita should be friends anymore. She doesn't seem like that great of a friend. And if you didn't have Danny, I wouldn't say it. But you do have Danny, and he seems like an okay kid to me."

"I know," I said, leaning against the wall.

Nat got up and sat next to me on my bed. "Look Alex, I know how hard this is for you. I really hate seeing you like this. It's not you. You're usually the one who's always just…so happy. And ever since all this stuff happened, you've been so different. I know it's not easy to just act happy either. So I'm going to tell you something, something that I hope you'll think seriously about."

"What is it?"

"I think…I think you should consider whether or not having Juanita as a friend is truly worth it."

**~NBB~**

"Alex! Alex, wake up!"

I rolled onto my side and opened my eyes.

Nat was sitting on my bed, practically shaking me.

"What?" I said, upset that I had to get up early on a Saturday.

"Today is concert day!" He cheered.

I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to get my mind off of everything else. I smiled but rolled over onto my stomach. "But it's Saturday morning! I need to sleep," I said loudly into my pillow.

"Alex, c'mon!" Nat said, shaking my shoulder. "We're going to go check out the venue and stuff!"

"Okay, okay, I'm getting up," I said sitting up. I slowly got up and eventually all the guys came to our apartment so that we could go to the venue. Before we left though, of course Cooper gave us the usual pep talk and we did all of our usual stuff.

"Cooper, we'll be fine," Nat said. "You worry too much."

Cooper shrugged. "It's kind of my job."

We walked down to the bus and drove over to the park. I was really excited. I always loved performing. Whenever we did concerts the whole band got excited, and it was just so much fun. When we got to the park, there was already a stage put up and a crew was rushing around setting up seats and lights and the sound system and everything. Of course, instead of following Cooper's orders, we all walk around the park checking it out and stuff. Whenever I'm with the band lately, I always forget about what's going on otherwise. (Meaning all the stuff with Matt and Juanita.) I didn't know how it worked or why, but I was thankful for it. Since it was so early, we couldn't do sound check and we all kind of ran around goofing off. After that, we picked up lunch and went back to the apartment to eat. As we were all getting dressed and ready for the gig, I remembered this would be my first gig that Juanita wouldn't hear about. I mean, I'm sure she'll see it on the news or something, but she wouldn't hear all about it from me. Normally, if we were still friends, she'd probably be coming to a gig like this. _Man, I really miss–Alex, stop it, _I told myself. _Think about the band, the concert, not anything else._

* * *

**A/N-Predictions as to what will happen? Does the new story sound interesting or does my summary suck?**

**Leave a review!**

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	12. The Concert

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**Okay I'm super excited to say that I've figured out a title for my new story! Well, actually Britishgurl13 thought of it, so I have to say a HUGE thank you to her because I literally had no clue as to what I should call the story. So my new story shall be called "Maybe There's a Reason" (: I'll post it after this story is finished, or maybe a little eariler. You can thank Britishgurl13 for that too because I didn't originally plan on releasing the story so soon lol. **

**Anyway, thank you thank you thank you to Britishgurl13! Haha (: **

**And enjoy the chapter! (: **

* * *

We drove to the park, and by the time we got there I was so pumped and ready for the concert. Just as we were walking backstage to get ready, I could hear someone calling me.

"Alex, hey Alex!"

I looked around and who else would it be but Danny. _Of course he'd come here,_ I thought. I told Nat Danny was here and I walked over to him.

"Hey, you ready for the show?" He asked as I walked up.

"Yeah," I said shrugging. "Look Danny, I can't talk because we've got stuff to do for the show. So I'll see you later." I needed to get away from school and everything that reminded me of it, and Danny was included.

"Alex, wait," He said.

I turned back to face him. "Yeah?"

"You want to go to the skate park later?"

I thought it over. Maybe it would help…and maybe it wouldn't. What if the band did something after the show? "I'll tell you after the show." I walked back over to where Nat and Tuffy were waiting and we walked to the dressing room.

"Is everything okay?" Nat asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Danny just wanted to go skating later."

"So are you?"

I shrugged.

"Alex," He said, giving me a look. "He's really trying to be your friend. Why don't you give him a chance?"

"I told you, I don't want a new friend. I want my old friend."

"I get it that you miss Juanita, but you can't use that excuse forever. I know it's hard but maybe what you need to do is…move on."

I just shook my head. "I'm not giving up on Juanita. She was my best friend. And somewhere deep, deep down inside she's still that girl I met at the skate park. Maybe. I'm not going to let her hate me for the rest of our lives for something I didn't do."

"You really miss her don't you?" Nat stopped walking to face me.

I looked down. "Yeah, I do," I mumbled.

Nat put his hand on my shoulder as we continued walking. "It'll get better, bro. It always does."

I grinned, looking up at him. "The sun will find us all eventually, right?"

…

_"And now give it up for New York's very own, The Naked Brothers Band!" _

We all ran out on stage and the concert kicked off without any problems. We played a bunch of songs, newer and older. But it was when we were about to play "All I Needed" that I noticed some kids walking towards the crowd that had formed near the stage. At first I didn't think much of it; you know it was probably some kids who had come late or something. As they came closer, I began recognizing Matt and his friends and Juanita was with them. I shot Nat a look over my shoulder.

He gave me a confused look.

I gestured towards Matt and Juanita's direction.

Nat looked at Cooper who was standing just off stage. Cooper peeked through the curtain and quickly disappeared. Nat walked over to me and we pretended to do something with the drums but he leaned down and whispered, "Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"Just keep playing. Everything will be fine."

I nodded again as he walked away, the band gave us some looks but I just brushed them off. I'd tell them later. I started the opening notes for "All I Needed" as I saw Tuffy make his way over to where Matt and Juanita were standing. As I was singing, I watched them closely.

Tuffy walked over and said something to them, and to my surprise, Juanita spoke up. Tuffy said something back, and then Matt started talking for them. As Matt was talking, Juanita looked at me, and I quickly looked away, focusing on my drums.

After we finished "All I Needed" it was time to play a song I asked Nat to add to the set list yesterday at practice. I asked him yesterday if we could add in "Changing" and Nat was all for it. I didn't usually play it at concerts but for some reason I felt like today would've been a good time to start. I glanced at Nat, then over to where Tuffy was still talking to Matt and his group. When we started playing, I could tell Juanita recognized the song, because her eyes were glued to the stage the whole way through. Just as the song was ending, Tuffy was finally able to get them to leave, but Juanita kept glancing over her shoulder.

We played two more songs after that, with no other problems and finished the concert with a standing ovation. We all ran off stage and back to the dressing rooms. I had to admit, besides the fact that Matt and Juanita showed up, the concert was amazing. It was small, but it was still a concert and it made me feel great. I was sitting on the couch and the band was still talking excitedly about the concert when I noticed that Cooper was talking to Tuffy by the door.

"Wait so what happened during the concert?" Thomas asked, making everyone go quiet.

"Yeah, what happened?" David asked, looking at Cooper.

"Juanita and her boyfriend came," I spoke up, causing everyone to look at me.

"That's who Juanita was with?" Rosalina asked. "That's her boyfriend?"

I nodded. "What'd they say Tuffy?"

"Well I asked them if they would leave, because they were causing a disturbance and Juanita started explaining how they only wanted to see the show but then another boy just stepped in front of her and started talking for her," Tuffy said.

"What'd he say?" I asked.

"All this stuff about how they weren't a disturbance and the rules were stupid and all this nonsense. So I told them that if they didn't leave right then, I would have to escort them out or even call the police and that got them to leave."

"Juanita's boyfriend sounds like a real jerk," Thomas said.

"Tell me about it," I said.

"It's okay Alex," Qaasim spoke up. "You don't need someone like that in your life anyway."

Nat sat next to me on the couch. "He's right bro."

"And anyway," Rosalina said. "You'll always have us, even when we're not a band anymore."

The band nodded in agreement.

"Yeah Alex, we got your back," David said.

"Thanks guys," I said, smiling at them.

"Now I say we go back to Nat and Alex's and celebrate," Cooper said.

"With pizza?" Thomas asked hopefully.

"What is it with boys and food?" Rosalina asked, rolling her eyes.

"We're growing," All the guys said at once.

We all laughed and followed Tuffy as he led the way back to the bus. I was almost inside when I heard someone calling me again. _Oh right, I forgot about Danny. _I walked over to where Danny was waiting, with a bunch of other fans. They all started screaming when I walked over and I smiled at them, but I looked at Danny.

"So you wanna go skate?" He asked.

"Sorry," I said. "The band's hanging out today."

"Oh…okay."

"Maybe tomorrow though," I said, remembering what Nat said. I was only going to do this to get him off my back.

"Sure, I'll meet you there in the afternoon."

"Cool, I'll see you then." I waved to the fans again and walked back to the bus. We drove back to the apartment and hung out like we usually did. I kicked butt in video games, we had pizza, watched movies and in the end the band ended up staying over so we all stayed out in the living room. When it got dark outside, Thomas, David and Qaasim took turns telling ghost stories which were supposed to be scary but really weren't. As it got later, we just ended up lying around the living room in the dark talking, which was something we actually hadn't done in a while. There was a pause and I decided to speak up.

"Hey guys?"

"What is it, Alex?" Nat answered from somewhere across the room.

"Thanks for caring about me," I paused to yawn. "It means a lot."

"It's what we're here for little man," Qaasim said.

"I don't need any of those kids at school. You guys are my best friends."

"Aw, we love you too Alex," Thomas joked.

"But I'll never admit I said any of this tomorrow so enjoy it while it lasts," I said.

* * *

**A/N-Oh Alex. Lol. So what's everyone's predictions now? **

**Leave a review! **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	13. Friend or Foe?

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**Okay, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to releasing "Maybe There's A Reason" sometime soon. Like...maybe tomorrow? Is that okay with you guys? **

* * *

The next morning the band woke up late, and we ate breakfast that actually should've been lunch. Soon after that though, the guys left but Rosalina stayed to hang out with Nat while I went to the skate park. (I'm sure that wasn't why she actually stayed, but it just happened that way.)

"Who are you going with?" Nat asked, as I walked into the living room with my skateboard.

"Danny," I replied, earning a surprised look from Nat.

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Okay…well have fun. Remember–"

"WAHAPAAT," I said. "I know." I walked out of the apartment after promising to only be gone two hours tops. I rode to the skate park and when I got there, Danny was waiting out front for me.

"Hey Alex," He said, walking up to me.

"Hey."

"So how was hanging out with the band yesterday?"

I shrugged. "It was cool."

"What did your guys' bodyguard say to Matt and them?" He asked as we skated over to the ramps.

I shrugged again. He didn't need to know.

"I heard Matt got really mad."

I kept my gaze on the ground and didn't respond. I thought coming here would take my mind off of things, like it usually did. But being here with Danny, who only talked about Matt, and seeing the place where Juanita and I met, didn't really help much at all.

"Look can we just skate?" I asked, looking up at Danny.

"Sure Alex, whatever you want."

**~NBB~**

As I rode home from the skate park, I realized that after today I didn't know if I really wanted Danny around. I thought skating with him with make me like him more and make me overlook some things about him. But it really didn't do anything at all. Hopefully hanging out with him today would get Nat off my back about "giving him a chance" though. I got to our building and made it upstairs to our apartment.

"How was the skate park, Alex?" Nat asked as I walked inside.

I put my skateboard in our room and walked into the kitchen. "It was fine." I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a mini carton of milk. I noticed Rosalina was gone, and Nat was sitting at the piano.

"Is something wrong?"

"No." I sat at the counter in the kitchen.

"Then why are you in such a bad mood?"

"I'm not, I'm just…" I sighed and shrugged. "I don't know."

He walked over and sat across from me. "What's wrong?"

"I thought going to the skate park with Danny would make me feel better but it only made me think about Juanita more."

"It's that bad, huh?"

I rested my head in my hand. "Yeah… it is."

"I'm sorry, bro."

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"I know, but it's not fair that you're miserable."

"I'm not miserable, but I'm not really that happy either."

"You handled the concert really well too."

"What do you mean?" I asked sitting up.

"I mean you could've refused to keep playing but you didn't. You kept going anyway."

"Oh…right…I meant to do that."

**~NBB~**

That Monday I noticed these kids were passing notes to Danny all day. He would reply back and I kept trying to read them but he wouldn't let me. Ever since the skate park, I usually kept talking to Danny down to the minimum.

During the last class of the day, I was starting to get really curious as I watched Danny pass notes back and forth with these kids. Of course, when I asked him about them he used basically the same excuse he did last time. "You wouldn't want to read it."

It went on like this until the teacher came in and the notes stopped coming. When class was over, he picked all of the notes up and threw them in the trash on his way out.

I stayed behind, giving him the excuse that I would catch up with him later. When mostly everyone was gone, and no one was looking, I reached into the trash can very cautiously and picked up some of the notes and stuff them in my pockets. I felt like I shouldn't have them but all at once I think I had the right to know if they were talking about me. I quickly made my way into the bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I opened up the crumbled notes and read one to Danny:

_How is it being best friends with the backstabber? _

One of Danny's replies:

_He doesn't tell me anything! I don't know why Matt even wants me to hang out with him… _

Wait. Hold on. What does Matt have to do with anything? I opened another note:

_That sucks. Has he said anything about Matt or Juanita though? _

Danny's response:

_No! Mostly all he does it snap at me! It's so annoying. How much longer do I have to pretend to be his friend? _

Wait. So Danny never actually wanted to be my friend? He never stood up for me in the bathroom? Could it have been someone else? Had Matt made him do this? What could Matt gain from Danny being friends with me? I rushed out of school and didn't even give Nat time to say anything. "Let's go home," I said, walking towards the car.

"Why are–,"

"I'll tell you when we get home. I just really want to leave."

We walked back to the car and drove home. I don't if Nat told her not to, or if she just figured she shouldn't but Rosalina didn't stay. She promised to call later though. Nat and I walked into the apartment and the minute I put down my backpack he spoke up, "What happened?" He demanded.

"Danny's a traitor," I said, turning to face him.

He looked confused. "What?"

"Danny. The kid you told me I should give a chance? The kid who's been following me around, the only one, who's been talking to me, is a traitor. He's a traitor! He's a backstabber! He's just like Matt!" My voice got louder and louder. "_He's _the backstabber! Not me! I didn't do anything and they all hate me!" I collapsed face first onto the couch and squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the tears to stay back.

Nat sat on the couch next to me and put his hand on my back. "I'm sorry, Alex. I'm really, really sorry."

"No you're not," I said into the couch.

"Yes I am."

"No you're not," I said, sitting up with tears coming out now even though I didn't want them to. "How could you be sorry? You're not in trouble, you have friends, and nobody hates you."

"That doesn't mean I can't be sorry. Those kids are mean, rude and they're jerks. They don't deserve to be your friend."

I rubbed my eyes so that I'd stop crying. "But I don't get it. I didn't do anything to anyone and they all hate me."

"I know Alex and I don't know why they picked you as their target because you aren't mean to anyone."

"Oh well, I guess," I said, leaning back on the couch.

"No, not 'oh well.' We have to do something about this," Nat said.

"Like what?"

"We'll figure out something. But we can't just let this go. I'm tired of just letting it go. You don't deserve to be treated so poorly. I hate to see you–"

A pounding on the door interrupted him.

"I got it." Nat got up and walked over to the door. He opened the door to reveal the whole band, and Cooper. They all looked like they were out of breath.

I walked over to the door. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We wanted to come to hang out," Thomas said.

"But on the way up we saw Juanita and Matt go into the elevator," Cooper said.

* * *

**A/N-I'm not exactly sure how many chapters are left for this story though, but I'll let you guys know. **

**Predictions? Anything? **

**Leave a review!**

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	14. She's Back

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**This story is almost over...): but I'll be able to work on other ones and "Maybe There's A Reason" (: **

**So... Enjoy! **

* * *

Nat looked at me.

I couldn't help but feel panicked. I've had to deal with Matt and Juanita at school but at home? In front of the whole band? What did they want? What would they say? What would _I _say?

"Hurry up, you guys come in," Nat said, stepping aside.

The band rushed in and Nat shut the door.

"What should we do?" Thomas asked, looking around at all of us.

"It's up to Alex," Cooper said.

The whole band looked at me.

"I…I, um…"

Someone knocked on the door. We all went totally quiet and slowly moved away into the living room.

"What do we do?!" Thomas whispered again.

"Just ignore it, and pretend you aren't home," David whispered.

Someone knocked again.

"You can't do that, it's rude!" Rosalina whispered.

"Oh and like backstabbing someone isn't," Thomas whispered.

"Guys!" Nat whispered, to get them to stop. "Alex, what do you want to do?"

I shrugged. "I…I don't know."

"Just open it and tell them Alex isn't home," Cooper suggested.

Nat nodded and cautiously walked over to the front door.

I leaned around the corner to watch him, but the band grabbed me and pulled me away.

We all listened quietly around the corner as Nat opened the door. "Oh…hey Juanita."

"Hi Nat. Is Alex home?"

"No, sorry he's not."

"Where is he?" A voice I recognized as Matt's asked.

"Sorry, who are you?" Nat asked, acting like he didn't know him.

"I'm Matt. I'm Juanita's boyfriend."

"Oh…well it's nice to meet you, but Alex isn't home. Sorry."

"Do you know where we could find him?" Matt asked.

"I'm sorry but I don't know you that well…"

I carefully and slowly peered around the corner, not even an inch.

Matt grabbed Juanita and I could see her flinch. "You know her, don't you?"

Nat just shrugged and shook his head. "Sorry."

"It's okay Nat, thanks though." Juanita turned and as she walked away, I could swear she looked…almost…disappointed.

Nat shut the door and ran back over to us.

"What do you think they wanted?" Qaasim asked.

Nat shrugged. "Who knows."

"Was it just me," I spoke up. "Or did Juanita look almost disappointed that you wouldn't tell them anything? And did you see her flinch when Matt grabbed her?"

"I noticed, but I thought maybe it was just me. Matt isn't anything like Juanita at all," Nat said.

"Wait, you think Matt could be like, abusing Juanita or something?" Rosalina asked.

"I don't think you could call it abuse," I said. "We're only in eighth grade. But I have a feeling that Juanita doesn't like Matt anymore."

**~NBB~**

The next day at school, I knew I had to talk to Juanita. And I needed to talk to her alone. I saw her at her locker and I rushed over there. "Juanita, we need to talk."

"Alex! You're right, we do but what about…?" She trailed off and I knew she meant Matt.

"Today after school. Just like on Friday."

She nodded and I turned to walk away but she stopped me.

"But Alex, I just…I wanted to say…I'm sorry."

"We'll talk about it later," I said and turned and walked away. Part of me was actually kind of glad that Juanita apologized but the other part of me was wondering what made her change her mind so quickly. It was just Friday that she was yelling at me that I couldn't believe everything I hear, and now on Tuesday she's apologizing. I wasn't going to complain though. This meant I would be getting my best friend back. As I walked to class, I heard someone calling my name and I knew who it was but I wasn't going to stop for them. Unfortunately, they caught up with me.

"Hey Alex, what's up?"

I didn't respond, and just kept walking.

"Alex?"

I still didn't respond.

"Alex, is everything–"

"I know, okay? I know that you're just pretending to be my friend and I know that you're only my friend because Matt told you to. And I don't know care if you go to Matt and lie and say that I've said things about him and Juanita because it doesn't matter to me anymore. I don't need people in my life who don't believe me. I need people who will be there for me no matter what. I've got those people. And you're not one of them. So I'd appreciate it if you'd stop following me around with this 'friend act' you've got going on here." I turned and continued walking to class like nothing happened. I wasn't going to let any of them affect me anymore. No matter what happened with Juanita, I wasn't going to let it bother me anymore. Nat was right. It wasn't fun being miserable, so I wasn't going to let them anymore. I spent the rest of the day basically alone, because everyone still thought I was a backstabber, and now Danny joined Matt's group. I was still nervous about what Juanita would say when I talked to her, but I kept telling myself not to care. As the end of the day came around, I walked with the crowd of kids towards the front door but stopped where Juanita and I had stopped on Friday.

A few minutes later Juanita broke away from the crowd and we moved to the side. "So…" She started nervously.

"What did you and Matt want yesterday?"

"I'd rather not mention what Matt wanted to do. I wouldn't let him though, so we agreed to at least go and talk to you. But I wasn't going to talk to you about what Matt thought I was. I was coming to…apologize."

I knew it was a stupid question but I asked anyway. "Why?"

"What do you mean? We've been terrible to you and–"

"No, I know that. But I mean what made you change your mind? On Friday you were yelling at me not to believe everything I hear and you wouldn't believe me when I said Matt talked behind my back."

"That's because I didn't believe you back then. But then on Saturday, when we went to your guys' show…and I saw you singing…it was sort of like I woke up, you know? Like I realized what was going on. After we left, and I saw the way Matt acted and I realized how rude he was to Tuffy and to _everyone _I knew that you were right. And I hate myself because I doubted you because you've always been good at that kind of thing. And I've known you so much longer than Matt, I realized I should've believed you. Then yesterday when I saw how rude he was to Nat…I _knew _that Matt wasn't the guy I thought he was."

I didn't know what to say, so I stayed quiet.

"Alex, I'm so, _so _sorry for how I've treated you. You really have no idea how mad I am at myself for doing that."

I shrugged. "It's okay, it–"

"No," Juanita interrupted me. "It's not okay. It was never okay. You don't have to forgive me. In fact, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't."

"How could I not forgive you?" I gave her a goofy grin. "You're my best friend."

She hugged me tightly, which was something eight and nine year old me would've have practically died over. Now it was slightly awkward, but I didn't care. I patted her back lightly. She pulled back and smiled. "Thank you Alex. I really don't deserve as good of a friend as you."

"It wasn't really you causing all the problems. It was mostly Matt."

"Yeah, but I believed him. But I don't now and won't ever again."

"Thanks Juanita." I smiled. The nervous feeling in my stomach was gone, and I had a better feeling it would never come back. It was the first time in a long time that I would walk out of school completely content and happy. Now nothing could ruin this. Not even if Matt showed his face. Even Danny the backstabber wouldn't ruin this. Like I said, I wouldn't let them. I was going to start new and fresh. I wasn't going to let them ruin my eighth grade year any more than they already had. I had my best friend back, and that was really all I needed.

* * *

**A/N-So... **

**Predictions? Reactions? Anything? **

**Leave a review!**

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


	15. Finally Friends

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!**

**Hey guys!**

**So... this is the LAST chapter of "We Seem to Be Changing" ): I know, everyone's so upset (lol not really.) but I want to thank you guys SO SO SO SOOOO much for reading and reviewing this story. I think this is one of my most successful stories yet and I just want to thank you all for reading, reviewing, subscribing and just being so supportive of this story. It means the world to me, and it is also why I continue to write. **

**Okay. Now I have to say 2 things: **

**1.) After reading all of your guys' reviews, I don't know if you guys will be exactly "satisfied" with the ending of this story, and I did edit it slightly from the original chapter I wrote to kind of wrap up some loose ends, however I kind of like how this chapter is written, so I left it mostly the same way it was originally... did that make sense? But the point being I hope you guys like the ending. I think it's kind "eh" and you all know that I hate writing endings - even though whether or not I'm good at them is debatable- but whatever. Lol. So...yeah. **

**2.) I just wanted to say that my version of this story, the real life thing that happened to me (which this story is based off of) had a happy ending as well. (: Recently, my friend contacted me and apologized for all these problems and everything and she seemed very sincere about it so we are friends again. (:**

**So everything is happy right?! Alex and I both have happy endings with our best friends! (: **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

That day I when I walked to the car, I was grinning. I was only grinning because I didn't want Nat to make a big deal about it. Either way, when I walked to the car and got inside, Nat gave me a look. "Not that I'm not happy that you're happy, but…why are you grinning?"

I just shrugged and leaned back in the seat. "Everything's great. Everything's just great."

"Do you mean that sarcastically?" He asked as Rosalina pulled away from the curb.

"No, I mean it literally."

"Wait, so what happened?"

"Juanita apologized."

This caused Rosalina to even stop the car and turn around to look at me. "What?" They both asked at the same time.

"She told me she wanted to talk to me after school. So I went with her and she apologized for everything. She said that she and Matt were terrible to me and she feels really bad about it, so she apologized. That's why she came over yesterday."

"That didn't look like what Matt wanted," Nat said.

"She didn't tell Matt what she was going to do."

"Wait, so did she break up with Matt?" Rosalina asked.

I shrugged. "I think she's going to though."

Nat looked a little surprised. "So you're just going to forgive her? Just like that?"

"Well…I mean, I _know _she's done a lot to me, but she's also my best friend Nat. I want her back more than anything. I'm not going to turn her down when she finally wants to be friends again."

"I'm not saying you should I'm just saying maybe you should think it over more–"

"Nat, it's okay. I know. She's going to have to gain my trust back. I'm not going to trust her completely yet."

"But I thought you said–"

"Yeah, she was my best friend, but after what she's done, I'm not sure if I can trust her. If she's really my friend, she'll be willing to earn it back."

Nat smiled at me. "You're handling it pretty well."

I shrugged again, my grin widening. "I had a little help."

**~NBB~**

The next day Juanita and I were playing video games in the apartment. This was after we had a really long conversation which basically–long story short–involved me telling her that I wouldn't be able to trust her completely just yet. I was glad though, because she understood completely and it made me feel better because that's the Juanita I knew her as. We were about to finish the level we were on when someone knocked at the door. "Nat, door now!" I yelled, not taking my eyes off the TV.

"Congratulations Juanita," Nat said, walking into the living room. "You've turned Alex into a teenager."

She laughed. "Don't worry I'll keep him in line."

"I'm right here!" I shouted, still not moving my gaze.

Nat opened the door, but I didn't hear what he said to the person because I wasn't really paying attention, but I was forced to pause the video game because he came over to me. "Alex," He said. "It's Matt."

I looked at Juanita. She had already broken up with Matt; she broke up with him the day she apologized. So what else could he want? "Should I go talk to him?" I looked back and forth between Juanita and Nat.

"Whatever you want bro," Nat said.

I sighed. "I guess I could talk to him." I walked over to the door and slightly opened it and slipped out into the hallway. "What do you want?"

"You stole my girlfriend," He said.

"I didn't steal her. It was her choice to break up with you. I didn't do anything. And don't talk about her like she's a piece of property. She's a person," I shot back.

"She's _supposed _to be my girlfriend."

"You know, I don't get it. I don't understand why you hate me when I didn't do anything to you."

"You talked about Juanita behind her–"

"That isn't true and you know that. I never talked behind Juanita's back. I never saw her enough to talk to her even once because she was always with you!"

"Which is why you started talking behind her back!"

"Quit lying to yourself!" I snapped. "Don't you get it? It's over! Everyone knows the truth and the more you spread the lie around, the stupider you look!"

"Yeah well…how do you think I feel?"

This is where I got lost. "What?" I asked confusedly.

"When Juanita and I first started dating, she only hung out with you. And then when we finally hung out together all she could talk about was how great you were, and how excited she was for your upcoming concert and blah, blah, blah. It was always about you!"

This actually surprised me. So…Juanita did talk about me? But it was…nice things?

"I was the one who told her that stuff so she'd stop talking about you. I didn't want to hear more about you. I wanted just to talk…so I told her that you'd been talking about her. And I guess I liked it so much that I just added to it and made it worse."

"You…I…" I was speechless. "Do you know how much trouble you've caused? Do you know what I've gone through these past few weeks?"

Matt didn't respond.

"Every day when I came home from school, I had worse news to tell my brother. And each time, I just got more and more upset. So upset that I didn't want to go to school, at first I didn't want to go to practice, I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything but lie in bed and try to rack my brain to think of why Juanita would hate me or think that those things were true." And when Matt still didn't say anything, I continued, "So if you're not here to apologize or say anything nice at all, you should probably leave."

"You're really not all that, Alex. I don't know what anyone sees in you," He said suddenly.

This took me by surprise completely. I thought Matt felt sorry for what he did. So much for that, I guess. Before I could respond the apartment door opened and Nat stepped into the hallway. "Is everything okay out here?" He asked looking at me.

"I was just asking Matt to leave," I said, looking from Nat to Matt. **(A/N-Haha that rhymed! Sorry. Lol) **

"Juanita will come back to me where she belongs eventually," Matt promised. "And you'll just become another washed up singer."

"Hey watch it," Nat said, stepping between us. "That's my brother your talking to."

"So what?" Matt challenged.

I shook my head. He shouldn't have said that.

"I'm not one for violence but I'm definitely _not _about to let a little eighth grader bully me," Nat said.

Matt glared at us. "You better watch your back Alex Wolff."

I shook my head as Nat took my shoulder and gently pushed me into the apartment. Once he shut the door behind us, he looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"It's an empty threat," I reassured him. "And even if it isn't, I'm not afraid of him. I never was. It was the fact that Juanita would never be my friend again that scared me."

"Really?"

We both looked to see Juanita standing a few feet away from us. "Well yeah, you are my best friend," I said.

She smiled and walked over to me. "I'm glad you forgave me Alex. I don't know how I could ever even think of my life without you around."

I grinned and shrugged. "Eh, it would just be really boring."

Nat and Juanita laughed. "I'm glad you're back too, Juanita," Nat said, looking at her. "Everything is back to normal now."

"Yeah, now we can go back to me kicking your butt at skating in video games _and _in real life," I joked, looking at her too.

"In your dreams, I'm way better than you virtually and in real life," She joked.

"Wanna test out that theory?" I challenged.

"It's not a theory if I know it's true," She shot back at me.

"You're on!" I said, as we both ran back to the T.V. Instead of running after her however, I turned back to Nat. "Hey Nat?"

"Yeah Alex?"

I grinned at him. "Thanks." I walked back over to the living room and sat next to Juanita. Everything was great. Everything was going to normal again. At this point, I didn't care what the kids at school thought of me anymore. I could care less what Matt thought, or what he planned to do. I didn't care who stood up for me in the bathroom (okay, that's a lie, I kind of did but if I didn't find out that wouldn't bother me so much). All I cared about was that I had my best friend back. No, things probably won't be exactly the same like it was before. And yes, it would probably take some time before I trust Juanita completely. But I was willing to look past that because I got my best friend back.

* * *

**A/N-So...what'd you think? Cheesy right? I think cheesy are my best endings... lol. **

**Also remember: When one story ends, another begins, meaning that now that this story is over, I can work on "Maybe There's A Reason" and maybe another story...? **

**Thank you all again for reading and reviewing! oh and special shoutout to Britishgurl13 who is probably my most "active" reader, lol. (It's a long story...) **

**Leave a review! (: **

**~NatalinaFanForever~**


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